REVIEW: HANNA - Page 2

It seems to me that Hanna's sole purpose for Erik was as a tool of revenge.   Why would Hanna even know of Wigler?  Because Erik programmed her to believe a normal life was not possible with Wigler alive.  Why else have the beacon, other than to use it to draw Wigler close to Hanna so that Hanna could strike.  It wasnt a matter of if the beacon was activated, only a matter of when.  As Hanna kept proclaiming, "Im ready".  When you look at Erik in that light, he comes off as a coward. 

 

The problem that I have with the movie is that I don't think this was the movie's intent. 

Tremendous film. The production design and cinematography is completely inspiring (big up to Greenwood and Kuchler). Though, yes, it is sometimes difficult to get your bearings on the geography, I believe it puts you right in Hanna's shoes as a stranger in a strange land. The whole super soldier element is fairly boring (or Bourneing...if you like), and I think Joe Wright knows that, which is why it's just sort of rattled off and never really touched upon in any great detail, it's simply a justification for the extent of her skill and her sense of isolation and alienation. I also got the sense that the film's refusal to answer everything you'd innately want to know, sort of turned off the audience last night, but that's more their problem than anyone else's.

 

Ronan is like a young Blanchett, such a preternatural beauty and completely captivating presence, I could look at her face all day. Speaking of Blanchett, she continues to bury the relevance of her good, but not nearly as powerful and dexterous fellow Australian peer, Nicole Kidman. Compare this to her performance in the last Indiana Jones film. She was good in that, but only because she's good in everything, it had little to do with the script and direction, which was subpar. Give her a part with some meat to it, like she has here, and watch her tear it the fuck up.

 

Bana's fantastic and I like that while there is a definite shade to his character's motives, he's never shady, if that makes any sense. He wanted a family, a child, and he raised her the only way he knew how.

 

But the big surprise, and I mean big surprise for me, was Tom Hollander. I have only ever seen him in In The Loop as the hapless cabinet minister, Simon Foster; hilariously taking all kinds of shit from Peter Capaldi like a port-a-potty. He's so on, and so sinister as Isaacs. I loved his hair, his great monochrome outfits, those skinhead boyfriends/henchmen or whatever they were. Such a wonderful, atypical sort of uber-henchman bastard. My only issue concerning him is that the film's rating (or maybe cuts made to achieve the rating) sort of neuters his final scene, which looked to be all kinds of unpleasant

 

A healthy amount of gay or intimated to be gay characters, really interesting and primal female roles, gorgeous and practical sets and locations, good, well-choreographed action scenes, an assured, and often leisurely pace that allows the characters to breathe and for you to breathe them in, fairytale subtext....yeah, this is my movie, it's got all the kind of thing that I'm attracted to.

 

Oh, shit, I forgot to mention. KOOKS! They used David Bowie's "Kooks" off of Hunky Dory, so cool. Obviously it's just a coincidence that the last film I saw (and enjoyed very much) was directed by the subject of that very song, but it was a neat one. A family sing-a-long to Bowie and the perfect song to boot. Love it.

 

 

Edited by JacknifeJohnny - 4/15/11 at 10:42am

 

I thought it was a good take on Frankenstein.

Jacknife, have you never seen Hollander in the 2 Pirates sequels?

Strange thing about the rating. I'd assumed that the film was rated R until I sat through the credits to learn that it was in fact a PG-13. The film never felt like it had been defanged in any way. I was aware that a lot of the violence was suggestive, but Wright does a fine job in giving the violence impact. Impressive.

Nope, I haven't seen Hollander in anything else but In The Loop and now this. I've probably seen little more than five minutes of the first and second "Pirates" films on television.

 

Quite so.  After the mixed reception the new Wolfman got, this may be the best Frankenstein remake we're liable to get for a while.  James Franco Versus Rape Ape might surprise us all, but c'mon.

Edited by Reasor - 4/17/11 at 5:49am

Thoroughly enjoyed it, though I have to admit I was hoping that the basic thriller storyline was going to be stronger, but the usual plot holes and inconsistencies were more than made up for by the stylishness and highly distinctive look, and even when I was sure I knew what was coming, Wright had me on the edge of my seat-- as someone else noted, I was surprised afterwards to realize it wasn't an "R." There were more James Bond references than I'd expected (at least I hope that the use of a merrily whistling effete gay sadist as a bad guy was a homage to an earlier, simpler time of action films rather than a timeworn cliche presented with a straight face), but my favorite was Hanna doing her "Roger-Moore-over-the-alligators" with the swan boats.

Caught this tonight, and pretty much loved it. Amazing cinematography, great score, and excellent performances. Blanchett's accent bugged me a bit, but everyone else was aces, particularly Tom Hollander, whom I was struggling to place until reading this thread.

 

Also, some really interesting and unusual editing, from the rhythmic forest training sequence to the music video-esque prison escape. I'd need to see it again to verify, but the night time tent conversation between Hanna and her friend was particularly odd, breaking the line with Hanna lying on her left side, but the reverse shot being over her left shoulder. Definitely felt deliberate, it threw me, and I loved it.

Fantastic film, and the points about Erik are definitely worth thinking about. I think they add a couple of layers to the character actually - primarily, that Erik is about as emotionally dysfunctional as Blanchett's character. He is definitely training Hanna for revenge, but I think his position is pretty reasonable, and explicated by Grimm himself: everyone has their faces scanned and identities filed into a databank and "CCTV IS GOD" as the graffiti on the wall says. Erik doesn't think he can escape from the CIA with Hanna because they will be looking for her. That doesn't fully explain why he feels the need to have her broadcast their location via the transmitter, though. I guess because running is for pussies, and Eric Bana ain't having that. This might be more a structural weakness in the script (alongside it's frankly unnecessary DNA!! subplot) than anything else.

I also thought music was such a strong, prevalent theme throughout the first half of the movie that I was very sorry to see it disappear in the second. I really liked the idea of this weird assassin girl, who had been raised in the forest her entire life, coming to terms with civilization by engaging it musically. If they had kept that up throughout the movie, Hanna would easily be one of my favorite movies ever. As it is, it's definitely the strongest I have seen this year.

I LOVED this movie

 

saw it in a packed house with a bunch of normies last Saturday night and most of them obviously couldnt get in for Fast Five or Thor as they were all moaning about it on the way out.

 

What I liked most about this film is it was a script that could have so easily been ruined by the Hollywood over development machine and become a typical blockbuster but it doesnt. Its a film that constantly takes left turns when typically it should be going right.

 

That scene with Eric Bana in the subway....woah...

Just loved the use of The Chemical Brothers here. Matches the flow of the film perfectly.

I actually thought this was one of the best films in 2011.

 

Anyone had a problem with Blanchett's Texan accent? I thought it worked. Making her creepy and threatening at the same time.

I would like to see it again, because I think Cate's character brings out the Texan accent to kind of ease into her subjects, and disarm them with a folksy demeanor. I think it's a deliberate choice by Blanchett, and not just an actor struggling to maintain one accent.

 

To answer your question though, yes, I thought it worked like gangbusters. 

The whole thing had a dark fairy tale vibe to it.

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

3 great action setpieces.

 

1) Hanna's escape from the facility. And the pumping music that accompanies it.

2) Bana's fight in the subway.

3) Hanna dodging and fighting amidst the containers.

Holy hell what a wonderfully different feeling, original little piece of film this is. By rights it should be a mess, but everything gels so well that yes, this really is a fully functioning arthouse action film telling a modern fairy tale - and it works on all those levels.

 

Moments that felt utterly dreamlike, action beats that had me gripping my cinema seat, performances from the four mains that were simply faultless, a pumping soundtrack that may just have become my favorite electronica album of the year, all tied together by the incredible skill of Wright, who's just convinced me to see Atonement at last thanks to this.

 

Why can;t all action films be smart and brilliant like this - why don't we demand this quality more from our genre cinema? Why the hell did this do no business while Transformers basically blows its wad over the US summer?

 

I have answers to those questions, but none of them are particularly positive, so I'll leave it.

 

I'll just say that this has leapt up as one of my movies of the year easily.

Agree 100%. I went to this a few months ago expecting a pretty good action film from a director I have admired, and ended up being blown away by the quality on display. The thing that thrilled and surprised me the most was how Wright took the time between action beats to get us immersed in the psyches of the characters, as the character development wisely gets top billing, with small moments like Hanna and the family's daughter's blossoming friendship/potential romance, as well as her first experience on a "date". Little character grace-notes like these drew me into this fine tapestry of a film.

I can honestly say that this has been the film of the year for me thus far, more-so than even Tree of Life.

Despite Hanna's super-soldier lineage I found this to be just an amazing breath of fresh air in comparison to the glut of Superhero films which we now have in lieu of actual action movies. I'm a massive fan of Atonement so I'm not going to say this is a step-up for Joe Wright, but he's got control of the material in this film that is kind of remarkable. There are so many elements in play in this film which could dominate it (it's kinetic chase sequences, Blanchett's performance, Hollander's creepy as fuck henchman, that score, Ronan's phenomenal performance) but they all cohese together in a way that is just mind blowing. Really there's an energy and intensity to the film which is kind of amazing, and it's built on an honest to goodness emotional core. I was expecting this to be a kick-ass action film, but I was just completely drawn in by both Saorise Ronan's performance (she's now got two of my favourite performances of 2011 under her belt) and the weird meta-family relationship between Hanna, Erik and Marissa.

 

The visual design is amazing, in fact the sequence where Hanna is escaping from the base felt like something Spike Jonze or Michael Gondry might have cooked up. Just breathtakingly well done, in fact with the blaring (and awesome) Chemical Brothers soundtrack it reminded me a lot of this music video.

 

 

I mean I could go on for paragraphs just about the framing in this film, little touches like the camera tilting up to show Hanna leaping between containers from below, or the amazing tracking shot which shows the geography of the containers as Marissa interogattes the family, or Eric Bana's tracking shot of bone breakage.  Like I wrote earlier it's just a director in complete control of a film and it's exhilirating.

 

 

This scene where Hanna escapes from the base is one of the best action scenes I can remember seeing, in a long time.  The fusion of amazing editing, slick visuals, and kick ass music was unmatched in any scene this whole summer.  This scene was perfect.  And as much as I loved the film, the one thing that disappointed me was how none of the other action scenes approached the greatness of this one.

Oh I dunno, Bana going all Bourne in the subway tunnel was pretty tits.

 

Nice review Spike - agree with every word.

The Eric Bana no-holds beat-down is a beauty itself and probably my favorite action scene. But I've gotta say I'm also real partial to Saoirse Ronan fuckin' a skinhead up old-school with that Butterfly knife.

I'm assuming you found it as refreshing a diversion from the tropes of superhero films as I did.

 

I do need to make myself more concise, that wasn't really meant as a review, more an effusive declaration of love.

 

 

 

Yeah the rumble in the parking lot or tunnel is great, but I kind of like the brief moments we get of Bana laying into Hollander right at the end. Something about how we only catch peripheral moments of the fight, and the inference of that last shot, makes that seem fucking brutal.

 

You also brought up in another thread something else I liked about the film, how Hanna's fighting style is largely about psychology and locks and breaks. She's not going toe to toe with most enemies, she's using the resources she has available and it makes her fights and combat sequences far more believable.

A brilliant film. I'd like to see a new Wright/Ronan Hanna movie every few years in the manner of Apted's 7up series.

I heard the Alternate Ending on the DVD shows where Hanna ends up at the end.

 

Yeah, she's not getting into super-giant punchouts with every single mook that comes her way. She's disarming them, taking a gun, or a knife and dispatching them quickly before moving on. She looks more like daddy's little KSK member than anything else.

 

 

Ultimately it's probably why the only real flaw I have with the movie is the DNA stuff. That all feels like it was in the script as a way of explaining how the character is able to mess up people so easily, but Joe Wright and the stunt-team make it look so believable anyway that it seems useless.

While I must agree with those who say the DNA stuff felt unnecessary, this is one of my favorite films in months. Well shot and acted, with an interesting story and characters, the list of things I could complain about is so tiny as to be almost non existent. I am telling everyone I know (who would actually listen to my advice) to watch this ASAP

Watched this the other evening. My wife was expecting the standard badass lone assassin kills everyone in sight flick only kiddie size and was disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised and really loved it. The missus looked at me like "who is this man" when I said I loved it and I could feel us growing farther apart. Then we ate a frozen pizza and watched Storage Wars and all was forgiven.

I just watched it and it does. She goes back to her little hideaway her and her dad share. She seems pretty happy and not at all dead emotionally. It seems as if she is going to go off and live her life as a normal person or at the very least try. Looks like the reading of her being a sociopath by the end was off, or the director changed his mind and wanted to leave it ambiguous. 

Loved this movie. Incredible, original action and a thumping electronic score. Really fascinating, sparse camera work and washed out colors. For all the emphasis on the theme of music, as well, there are long stretches that take strong advantage of silence.

 

In my top ten of the year. 

 

Also, as directed, that alternative ending just doesn't fit at all. Tonally it's totally misguided and downright schmaltzy. Totally unnecessary too. By leaving it as it ends, we get the sense that she's prepared for the next step of her journey, just as she was in the beginning. She's reached the next level and has wiped out her history and can embrace life on her own terms now.

Oh no your 100% right, I don't need that ending and im sure the director picked the one he wanted. It's not like a major studio is ever like "happy ending? No way more pain and ambiguity"!