Adapt or Die - Hanna is a sleeper hit *no spoilers*

“I just missed your heart.”


Hanna was a pretty excellent movie.

Ok, review done.

Seriously though, Hanna was a sleeper hit. Going in with no expectations, I was completely immersed in the film. The plot moved along well enough to keep me interested - not laying all it’s cards on the table and revealing things throughout the entire film. For those that think story does not matter in a movie, this movie completely debunks that statement. The story was simple enough to understand, but the way it was told was like slowly pouring water into a glass. Only when it was full did the movie end. Even after the credits start rolling, you wonder more about what the story would have to offer. That was perhaps one of my gripes with the film, the fact it ended on a climatic scene, but the arrival to the scene was amazing. It’s just like they always say - “it’s the journey, not the destination.”

Hanna, played by a great Saoirse Ronan, grew up in the wilds with her ex-CIA father, played by an incredibly hot Eric Bana, and was trained to be an expert assassin/badass. The antagonist is a stunning Cate Blanchett, who is as ruthless in her mission.

Imagery played an important role in the movie as well. Scenery and settings had as much personality as the people on the screen. From the snowy landscape of the Artic Circle to the deserts of Morocco to an abandoned theme park in Germany, all the areas of the movie were beautiful with a lasting appeal on me. I immensely loved the haunting abandoned amusement park with its deconstructed rides, paint fading away from years of deterioration and surrounded by unkempt lawns.

This movie was not all about brilliant story and amazing settings. Although action was sparse, the fights and action sequences were very well done. There was no defying logic and death defying stunts used in this movie. It was just straight-forward, very realistic fighting that would probably be done by these agents in real life. It definitely grounded the movie into the real world instead of taking the audience out of it.

No good movie is without a few problems however. With Hanna it was mostly technical problems having nothing to do with the actually story itself. Some of the camera techniques used were unnecessary and disorienting. Every time Hanna was being chased, they decided to do a weird camera technique that did not work well and took me out of the movie - whether it be a spinning or shaky cam technique.

Hanna is certainly worth checking out if you like more story-driven films. Amidst all the sequels and adaptations, this is a shining gem.