Hanna

Progressive, superb work by the director, an excellent soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers and a goodlooking cast meet a mediocre B-movie script. Hanna could have been the most intriguing action blockbuster of the year, if someone had bothered to back it up with a correspondingly interesting story. The story that it does have is no better than that of Salt, for example. Nevertheless, it remains a cool, dynamic experience. If Tom Cruise wished to truly revive the M:I series, he should have entrusted Ghost Protocol to Joe Wright! (08/07/2011)

I admire Joe Wright's work and I think that, despite his last two mediocre films, he's the greatest British talent of our time, but I just don't give a damn about delicate little girls who can beat up a guy a head taller and 50 kg heavier in hand combat. Such stupidly naive screenplays probably don't even belong in contemporary cinema (I hereby salute the 80s). (27/07/2011)

An interesting way to create a film. I had the feeling that someone had come up with a very smart story, sent it via “Chinese whispers” through several morons and then they filmed the result. The border between genius and idiocy can be very thin sometimes and this film steps on both sides of it throughout. It is superbly made, but all too often I shook my head at the stupid things happening on screen (and yet it would be enough to correct the script a little). By the end I laughed out loud several times. Also, the way the final chase with the two female protagonists is put together is nonsense and confusing. PS: Mild thumbs up only for Blanchett’s character – that’s how a charismatic villain should look like. 5/10 (07/06/2011)

An art-action film about a hit girl searching for her own female identity. I'll probably never understand how someone could push a script like this past the studio bosses, but I won't hide the fact that I loved it. There probably won't be many conquerors of this film in the "weird" box this year. In any case, it's clear that one box is very small for Wright. The chemical music is great, and Saoirse is an excellent actress, but Cate should ditch the negative roles. The Soviet agent has been replaced by an American, the black hairstyle by a red one, but the tragedy is the same. 4 ½. (22/06/2011)

As a "concept music video" for The Chemical Brothers' new album, excellent. As a film… Well, for the sake of the matter, let's stick to the video clip interpretation, otherwise, there would be a few words that Wright wouldn't put in a frame. (25/09/2011)

As a fan of Joe Wright, a huge weight has been lifted off my heart. After the surprisingly average Atonement, he finally proves that he doesn't only need British history by his side and that he can also bring a "made-to-order" script to the screen with elegance and powerful impact. Hanna can be cold and distant like the Finnish wilderness, but within seconds can switch and suddenly become completely personal and filled with tension. In combination with the teenage perfectionist Saoirse Ronan and the rhythm of the Chemical Brothers' soundtrack, an experience that is hard to replicate is created. 85% (13/07/2011)

The initial showcase of hunting in the style of native hunters built up my expectations, but the following scenes, where Hanna first demonstrates her murderous abilities, hit me like a cold shower. Then, after Hanna massacred the numerous inhabitants of the super-secret military base full of elite agents, my interest fell similarly to the mercury in a thermometer placed in a freezer. This film is not artsy or at least alternative-looking by intent or through its casting. Yes, Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett belong to the top league within their generation of actors. But then what? The content is just as foolish as countless other action films produced purely for commercial reasons. I don't find anything original or intelligent in the film, the point feels like it's from a sci-fi C-movie, and some of the characters, such as the albino killer, relegate Hanna to the realm of pure trash. It takes itself too seriously to be a parody, and if Wright attempted to deviate from the usual genre paths, he desperately failed. Soderbergh went much further in Haywire, and yet he, too, only remained halfway. For me to take a film seriously, it must have a solid foundation and a plot - and in that aspect, Hanna loses on all accounts and only confirms my biases towards the action genre. So I categorically discard it. I'm sorry, Ronan, maybe next time. Overall impression: 10% for both actresses. (04/10/2015)

This action B-movie/Grimm fairytale cross about a girl assassin in the hands of Joe Wright turns into a visual gem. His direction is perfect and when I say perfect, I mean precise in all ways. In places he raises Hanna into an art form. Such a pleasure to watch. The story suffers from imbalance. The sequence with the “normal" family should have ended up packed in a container at the port together with a couple of other things. Saoirse Ronan’s acting is flawless, as always. Eric Bana as her slugger dad manages to show his best moves even in the little room he get (the one-shot scene after getting of the bus is genius). I hated that whistling bad guy from the moment that he began to whistle that revolting melody, and Cate Blanchett didn’t do anything special in this movie. The action scenes were a joy to watch. Adapt or die. (17/06/2011)

Insane. Fans of the American grand style and posing can watch Bourne or Mission Impossible 3. They are similarly “kinetic” films, but they are clear, linear, and much easier to grasp. Hanna’s problem is that it is sometimes on the verge of a paranoid thriller, which often turns into a hard-hitting action film interspersed with sci-fi elements. It has a British feeling, which I don't really like deep down. (28/10/2011)

So it seems to me that what attracted Joe Wright to Hanna was not so much the opportunity to film action scenes (not that he couldn't, not by a long shot), but rather the chance to plunge a girl with perfect encyclopedic, yet theoretical knowledge into the maelstrom of civilization and see whether she would make it or not. And that's what I liked most about the film. In the end, it wasn't so much about revenge, spies or super soldiers. I was most interested in the main character, played by the devilishly likable Saoirse Ronan, her getting to know the real world, getting close to people and so on. The music, I must say, was not great, but the visuals with long shots and many excellent scenes (both the fight scenes and human scenes, like the conversation under the duvet) trumped everything. (24/03/2013)

Hanna is quite a peculiar film. Initially, I didn't know what to make of it at first, but as the story unfolded, my initial satisfaction started to fade with each revelation. It bothered me that the filmmakers seemed to think I was an idiot, judging by some of the scenes. At one point, Hanna has what seems like an almost orgasmic encounter with a lightbulb, and struggles to turn off a kettle, but shortly after, she's casually surfing the internet in a Berlin café. It felt a bit off. There were more illogical moments like that, but I seem to have a soft spot for genetically modified assassins. If the screenwriter had chosen a mutant boy as the main character, I likely wouldn't have given it more than one star. / Lesson learned: Tell me how heavy the deer was, and Eric will tell you who you are. (07/07/2022)

Who would have thought that Joe Wright ("Pride and Prejudice" or "Atonement") would direct an action film. And anyone can say whatever they want, but this is nothing else. I refuse to hear any talk about it being an artistic action movie, that it has something more to it. It doesn't. It is an action film with well-executed action sequences, of which there aren't that many, but in between, there should be something human that is supposed to get to us. It didn't get to me and I had the feeling that I was only watching a tedious story about how one evil agent is supposed to die, and how for that, one quite crazy father - Eric Bana, who eventually can actually act a little when he isn't on screen for too long - is teaching his daughter in the wilderness, which is actually... No, I won't introduce that stupid sci-fi point to you. I have a feeling that it was only supposed to bring something "existential" to the film, but at the same time, I think that Joe simply missed the mark and should have left the screenplay to some B-movie makers. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-005-reziser.html (15/02/2013)