Review: Hanna

Hanna
2011
110 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Joe Wright's Hanna is so detached and so mechanically cold, that the viewer has no real stake in the narrative. It features, at its core, two opposing forces, both of questionable morality, who pursue each other all over Europe with a reckless and relentless abandon. If you have any sympathy at all, it won't be for the young assassin or her ice-cold nemesis, but rather for all the innocent saps who get killed along the way. The picture may be a stylish reworking of "Little Red Riding Hood", but at its core it is detached, resulting in a lack of investment. Despite the arty pretense and polished cast, Joe Wright's action debut is almost as hollow and junky as the kind of low-IQ mainstream thriller that it attempts to surpass.

Hanna gets a trailer.

'focus' Hanna - Trailer 1 @ Yahoo! Video

Well, doesn't this look like deliciously trashy fun? If I may speak pruriently for a moment, I'd forgotten how hot Cate Blanchett looks as a redhead. Otherwise, this looks like a somewhat generic premise, but with a pretty solid cast. Saoirse Ronan was pretty terrific in the otherwise quite flawed The Lovely Bones, and Eric Bana is always watchable when he plays something other than a brooding hero. We've got Olivia Williams and Tom Hallander for seasoning. Toss in Blanchett as a somewhat more devious 'Pamela Landey'-type character, and this Joe Wright-helmed thriller looks quite amusing. It opens on April 8th, 2011. As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson