“Hanna” could have been so good. Director Joe Wright (“Atonement”) had many good elements in place, including a great cast led by Irish phenom Saoirse Ronan (pronounced ser-shee) and Cate Blanchett in one of the creepiest villainess-in-high-heels performances ever.
But Wright drowns the film in chase sequences every 10 minutes, with each chase looking and sounding the same. Wright pulled electronic group Chemical Brothers out of semi-retirement to write music for the chase scenes, and the results are astoundingly bad – and monotonous. At the 2011 Razzie Awards, “Hanna” deserves a special honor for Worst Use of Music in a Film.
In addition to the 1990s-style soundtrack, there are other elements in the film that reek of clumsy 90s nostalgia. My jaw kept dropping throughout the movie because at every point when a hackneyed 90s element appeared, it seemed that Wright thought he was being very hip and new. It’s almost as if Wright fell into a coma in 1995 and woke up in 2010, having missed the last 15 years.
"Hanna" is an action thriller with a bit of espionage and science fiction thrown in. A teenage girl named Hanna (Ronan) is being raised by her father (Eric Bana) in a remote Arctic forest area, where she undergoes rigorous survivalist training, including martial arts. There is a mysterious connection to a senior CIA officer (Blanchett) that only gradually is explained. The girl tries to re-enter society, but she is chased by Blanchett and her colorful band of assassins.
In between the chase scenes, there are some hilarious bits with an English family to whom Hanna attaches herself, especially another teenager brilliantly played by Jessica Barden. Wright (who made Ronan a star with “Atonement”) has a real gift for directing teenage actors.
When all the mysteries are finally revealed, they are fairly satisfying. But at heart this is just an action thriller. It can’t be called a work of art. With more consistently successful direction, it could have been a dazzling work of pulp fiction (if Danny Boyle had directed, perhaps). As it is, it’s a moderately enjoyable entertainment.
2 comments:
Surprised that Atonement director did this as his next project.
It's actually not his next project. In between he did 2009's "The Soloist," with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr, which I think deserved more attention than it got.
But still I see your point. "Hanna" really is a step in a different direction for him. It seems like he's been inspired by filmmakers like Danny Boyle, who are highly omnivorous, trying their hand at all sorts of different genres.
They also both use nicknames in their credits. Danny/Joe. Cute, no? But then again, I do too. Bill! Nicknames as published names. A sign of our familiar times. I guess the whole concept of the formal is falling away. Everyone wants to use the familiar in all realms. (Forgive the tangent!)
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