Directed By: Joe Wright
Run Time: 1 hour 51 minutes
Hanna (played by Ronan) has spent her whole life being raised in the snowy wilderness - and remoteness - of Finland by her father (played by Banna). Her sole purpose in life is to assassinate Marissa Weigler (played by Blanchett). Her father has given her the skills to hunt and kill, a trained little warrior. When Hanna feels she is ready to perform her quest, she and her father part ways, with the instructions to meet up in Berlin. She leaves a trail of dead bodies in an attempt to fulfill her quest.
So many movies take place in Berlin! I'm glad I've toured Berlin. It makes me feel like I'm connected to the movie somehow. Of course, I'm pretty sure Hanna's Berlin and my Berlin were not one in the same. I went to touristy places that indulged my comfort level; the street vagrants in her Berlin probably reflected her comfort level - able to defend herself from anything.
The opening of this movie did not grab me, mainly because most of it was shown in the previews. I knew she was alone in the arctic; I knew she was a skilled hunter; I knew her father would sneak up on her and they would battle. I knew she had a well rounded arsenal of survival skills. But the question of why was she had been brought up in this world was very intriguing. It was interesting to see just how much of a machine she was - filled with book knowledge as well as combat knowledge. And it was also very interesting to see just how much of a teenager she was. She could bring down an elk with a bow and arrow and then gut it and clean its carcass like a grizzly seasoned hunter but then she was also prone to emotion (furious with
her father for forcing her to drag the elk back by herself as punishment for her failure to best him in their battle).
For all her warrior training, her father failed to teach her how to blend in naturally, how to assimilate. That extra training would have helped her accomplish her quest more easily. Perhaps the severity of living off the grid in the harshness of the remoteness was her downfall. If she grew up near civilization, she may have able to adapt to it better. Having never seen another person other than her father, never seen a computer, never seen a road or a car, never seen a TV were tremendous obstacles for her.
Mark my words: one day Saoirse Ronan will win an Oscar. She is an amazing actress. She gives an amazing performance as a little assassin. Cate Blanchett, who is an Oscar winning actress, was not as wonderful in this. First, her Southern accent was annoying. Second, she had an essence of diabolicalness but it wasn't fully materialized.
I was intrigued by this little girl. Who was she? Why was she there? And what was her quest? I was in awe of her, too. Such amazing agility and skill she possessed to navigate through the containment facility. I knew she was a trained assassin and those skills were also enticing. She was an amazing specimen. But again, who was
she? What was her backstory? What is her obession with Marissa Weigler? For that matter, what is her father's obsession with Marissa Weigler? He obviously wants her killed, but why?
I was captivated by the questions, the mystery, the unknown for most of the movie. But when the backstory was revealed, I was more than disappointed. I was disgusted. Anything would have been better than that! I'm tempted to reveal the reason why Marissa Weigler is trying to find Erik Heller and Hanna (and because she's trying to find them, they're trying to kill her) so that you will not waste your time seeing this movie. It is a great action movie up until then. I was riveted up until then. I was fascinated with the intrigue up until then. And then I didn't care to be watching the movie anymore. I didn't even care to see the ending.
Oh, the ending. Sigh. The implausbility is a let down. Hanna is such a skilled warrior that the implausibility is a slap in the face. The writer took the easy way out the way the scene was set up. This was a chance to redeem itself with a killer, high-octaned final chase scene and it fell flat.
I liked this movie up until a half hour before it ended. It was an intense ride with many turns and jolts. And then the ride ended abruptly, not because we were having so much fun that we failed to noticed we had actually come to the end but because the ride operator just decided to take a break... which made us walk down the tracks to the ride's end instead of coming to a screeching halt of scary fun. More than a let down. So you can certainly watch this movie to see such an amazing actress (Saoirse Ronan) but you should probably turn it off and walk away once her father enters her mother's old apartment in Berlin. Don't be tempted to find out who she is. Your imagination can keep the mystery alive.
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