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It's hard not to think of The Professional while watching Hanna. Similar to Luc Besson's 1994 Franco-pedo actioner, Hanna seems to be almost capable of completely re-inventing what an action film can communicate to its audience. Unlike The Professional though, Hanna goes one step further for the genre by implementing a surprising amount of fairy tale allusions.
Saoirese Ronan plays the title character. Bred to be a quick-on-her-feet killing machine, Hanna is raised in the forests of Finland.
Her father (Eric Bana, who will regretfully and eternally be the Hulk in my mind) seems to be preparing her for something. He makes her target practice, makes her memorize passages from the Encyclopedia, hunt for food, and tests her reaction time by attacking her while she sleeps.
All this training may have something to do with Marissa (Cate Blanchett), a CIA ball-buster who seems beyond obsessed with the girl and her father's whereabouts.
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When Hanna flies the coop, Blanchett is in hot pursuit. In the process she utilizes her CIA Rolodex to extinguish any loose ends that could connect her back to the child.
As the trailers indicate, many of Hanna's secrets are kept quiet until the film's finale. What is immediately apparent after only a few moments into the film is the visual dialogue that director Joe Wright is having with the audience.
Wright (Atonement and one of those semi-annual Jane Austen flicks) creates a world of espionage that seems to fall somewhere between The Brothers Grimm and Robert Ludlum.
There are plenty of examples of the film's fairy tale aspects (Hanna comes from "the forest," finds sanctuary in a somewhat mystical amusement park, befriends a troll of a man that knew her father, while Marissa runs off to “grandmother's house" to head the girl off) but nothing stands out more than Cate Blanchett's evil "witch" character.
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Blanchett is one of those actresses that everyone knows is a good actress but I really think this is the first time she's stood out to me in any film (granted, everything I've seen her in has been a supporting role in non-dramatic movies).
Her character, with that endless sneer, southerner’s drawl and fiery red hair is one of the film's many treats and deserves a slot on someone's list for best villain in an action flick.
As Hanna, Saoirese Ronan delicately fulfills her role as an amalgamation of Alice/Snow White/Sleeping Beauty. That is until she's cornered by Marissa's foot soldiers. At that point, she turns into La Femme Nikita (another Besson film).
That violent turn serves as a heartbreaking reminder that (similar to Natalie Portman's character in The Professional) this kid is only experiencing the world through adult violence. It's this extra layer of worldly reflection that sets Hanna apart. Making it an action film that is willing to communicate to its audience what is lost on most films in its genre.
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