Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Joe Wright, Focus Features and Universal Pictures, M 111 Minutes.
Award-winning filmmaker Joe Wright (‘Darkest Hour’) has directed a fulfilling action drama about teenage girl and would-be assassin Hanna (Saoirse Ronan – ‘Brooklyn’), who has been raised and trained by her ex-CIA father Eric (Eric Bana – ‘Troy’) in the Finnish wilderness.
In the opening scene 15-year-old Hanna first appears with her bow and arrow hunting down a reindeer in the woods, finding that her arrow has missed the animal’s heart she finishes it off with one shot.
On the completion of her training Hanna tells Erik she is ready for their mission which sees her being provided with a transmitter that sends a signal on their location to rogue CIA agent Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett – ‘Carol’).
This enables Marissa to send a team to Erik’s cabin where Hanna is captured and placed in a safe house in Morocco.
Hanna then escapes which forces Marissa to assign the mercenary Isaacs (Tom Hollander – ‘About Time’) to get her back.
In between Hanna disposing of Isaac’s men, Marissa has wasted little time in going after Erik in Berlin following which the teenage assassin is reunited with her father in her grandmother’s apartment.
After discovering that her grandmother has been killed by Marissa, who is also responsible for her mother’s death, Hanna is hell-bent on tracking her down to extract vengeance.
During this time, she also discovers Erik’s reasons for training her as an assassin.
When Marissa finally comes face to face with Hanna in the concluding scenes, she manages to shoot Hanna before being wounded herself from an improvised bow, an injury which causes her to flee.
In her hurry, Marissa makes the mistake of dropping her gun which is picked up by Hannah and used to kill its owner.
Wright has made an entertaining conspiracy thriller centred on a teenage that has an engrossing storyline filled with many exciting action scenes shot against some stunning settings in Morocco, Germany and Finland.
Apart from Bana’s complimentary role, it is the performance by Ronan as Hanna that is mostly riveting and is convincingly supported by Blanchett as the revolting Marissa.
Vic’s Verdict: 3 ½ Stars
HANNA is to be televised on Channel 9 GO at 9.30pm on Saturday 9 October.
