Movie Review: Hanna

I cannot describe how excited I was for this movie to come out. Not only is it another Joe Wright film (I've said in the past that he is my Director-soul mate), but Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, and Saoirse Ronan are all in it. Usually Cate Blanchett alone would be enough to get me to anticipate a movie, so this line up was overwhelming. I've been excited to see Saoirse do more ever since Atonement, but especially since having seen The Lovely Bones and learning that she will play a role in The Hobbit (probably my most anticipated movie of the next 2 years). I realized just how excited I was as the lights dimmed in the theater and I got a little nervous. I leaned over to Justin and said, "Justin! What if it isn't good? I'm going to be SO disappointed."

Luckily, this movie was NOT a disappointment. Saoirse's ethereal look coupled with her bad-ass ways was just visually confusing enough to grab me in right away. The opening scene (which is mirrored in the last scene) let me know that this was absolutely something new and fresh from Joe Wright. It's hard to place what genre this movie goes in, but it's not really a drama, it's not fully an action movie, and it's not a comedy. Behind all the action is a film that deals with characters and their stories. The characters ultimately drive the movie, which makes it borderline drama. It's a little bit of everything, and it does each part well!

Of course, Cate Blanchett was completely wonderful, as always. She is supposed to be a character that you dislike, maybe even hate. She does some despicable things, and yet, with every scene she was in I couldn't help but love her more. She is just so fantastic! In this role, you love to hate her (and I secretly just loved to love her). Saoirse Ronan was wonderful, too. I was severely impressed and it made me so excited that she is going to be in The Hobbit (yes it's a made up role, but whatever... and that's another blog post, altogether)!

Half way through the movie I thought "This is such an awesome role for a young girl to have!" It's a type of character you hardly ever see for young actresses. Rarer still is an entire movie built around this type of character without some other character partnering with her (usually a man). Hanna spends almost the entire movie on her own, finding her own way, and defeating her own bad guys. In a few small ways, it reminded me of Kill Bill (I said SMALL ways, no one take that comment the wrong way, haha). Either way, it will certainly do wonderful things for Ronan's career. She deserves many more amazing roles in the future. She is so versatile.


Overall, Hanna is a very entertaining film. I loved it! It's fun to watch, but also raises questions about society, government, and morality. The performances are solid and the direction is great (so glad to see him do something so different!), plus the music really added another level to each scene. I highly suggest this one. Go see another side of  Joe Wright and Miss Saiorse Ronan.