Hanna

“Hanna” the story of teenage killer gives audiences a story and performances as deadly as Hanna herself.

Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) didn’t have a normal childhood. Instead of living in the comforts of modern technology spending her days playing with toys and reading children’s books, she spent her days learning how to kill, fight, how to speak different languages and reading through the encyclopedia. Hanna also lives in the article circle with her father (Eric Bana) away from technology and people.

Finally the time has come for Hanna to receive her mission: to kill Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). So Hana plans to leave her home and use all her years of training, always following her father’s motto, “adapt or die.”

The plot is fast-paced giving audiences thrill after thrill. It also keeps audiences guessing on how Hanna will avoid capture as Marissa seeks her out. Also Hanna tries to find answers about herself and the audience joins her on the quest for truth.

Part of what makes “Hanna” feel so fast-paced is the quick editing (Paul Tothill). During the action scenes the shots are quickly cut into short clips and move rapidly from one to the other. The quick cuts heightens the tension and makes the film feel like it’s moving faster.

The score by the Chemical Brothers also drives the pace of the film. The music has a fast, pulsing beat so when Hanna is running or beating up bad guys it quickly moves the film. The beats are also in sync with the editing cuts making it flow together beautifully.

The acting in the film is phenomenal, partly because the characters are such hard, cold people. Hanna never really shows her emotion, always observing her surroundings; she hardly ever lets her guard down. Hanna, also has never seen electricity, although she can recite the encyclopedia entry on it and when she finally sees it in real life she is mesmerized. Ronan displays the unemotional, monotone, Hanna and the awe-filled Hanna with realism.

Marissa is a cold-hearted CIA agent and she, like Hanna is not afraid to kill. She is also an obsessive-compulsive, neat-freak who just wants to “clean up the mess” that Hanna and her father have created. Blanchett gives the audience a good bad guy to hate. She’s scary, creepy and a killer and Blanchett’s performance is just a lethal as her character.

Erik, Hanna’s father, once again isn’t much of a softie when it comes to killing people or beating the pulp out of them. However, everything he does, including her rigorous, life-long training is to protect Hanna. Bana is able to show the audience he’s tough-guy side while still creating an emotional character that cares for his daughter.

The cinematography (Martin Kenzie and David Knox) in “Hanna” is also note-worthy. It contains different high and low angles and perspective angles that give the audience a deeper glimpse into the story from Hanna’s point-of-view. It also has some extreme close-up of characters. There is also one scene where the camera spins Hanna’s panicked face across the screen and it creates a unique effect for audiences to experience.

Although not many people will understand or appreciate some of “Hanna” technical aspects, “Hanna” also provides audiences with strong characters and actors give solid performances. The story keeps moving and keeps the audience’s attention and “Hanna” deserves it.