Hanna

This movie was flat out entertaining from beginning to end. I really can't say that about a lot of movies that have come out in the last few years. Movies can be shot well, have good stories, and great characters but if they don't fit together correctly the movie is rubbish overall. In this movie everything works perfectly together. Stellar performances, unbelievable soundtrack, great cinematography, perfect editing and an amazing story allow this movie to be almost perfect in every way. I'm pretty amazed that the producers and director of this movie were able to secure such a talented cast for what could be considered an art house spy thriller. Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Olivia Williams, Tom Hollander, and Jason Flemyng round out the cast that does an amazing job in bringing the characters and story to life.

The movie at first seems to be a very generic spy movie. The plot starts with Eric Bana's character training Hanna in the wilderness. We see her in the harshest of conditions and how she is trained for every situation in order to give her a chance to survive in any situation. They are training to go after Eric's former handler who betrayed him and Hanna's mother. This is where the movie turns into a type of revenge movie, because Hanna goes after this woman with the full force of all of the skills that her father taught her. Throughout the movie we see how Hanna evolves through the different experiences that she has and the different people she meets. The family she encounters shows her what love and friendship are and the German man that is friends with Eric shows her music and trust. These are lesson that Eric did not show her because he was so focused on training her for combat and survival. This is a tale of spiritual growth and revenge. These are both showcased to perfection and deserves you as a viewer.

The character of Hanna is obviously the focal point of the entire movie and Saoirse Ronan's performance does not disappoint. The innocence of the character is put on display in many of the film's scenes, be it her first real interaction with a boy or her first interaction with a family. Almost everything she experiences in the movie is a first and at times you can see it physically overwhelms her. Things like this let the viewer know that she is not an unstoppable killing machine but a young woman experiencing the world from a somewhat distorted and mutated perspective. For most of her life she was trained and taught only how to kill and survive at all costs, and all the time we see her in the movie all she wants to do is experience the world with her own eyes. Ultimately this is what truly brings the film to life and gives the story its weight.

There is also a fairy tale like feel to the movie because you see Hanna go through all of these trial and tribulations, and all she wants to do is be a "real" girl. What I mean by that is that she just wants to be a normal teenager and have friends but all she know is combat and survival skills. Through the course of the movie she is shown by the people around her what a real life can be and she has to fight in order to obtain it. It is a sort of twisted fairy tale but that is how I interpreted the story and that may differ from your opinion but that is why it is my opinion. 

The soundtrack for this movie is also worth mentioning, because it is easily on of the best soundtrack I have ever heard. The Chemical Brothers truly did something special when they crafted the score for this movie. It definitely rivals Daft Punk's score from Tron Legacy in every way. Each track is expertly crafted for the scene it was written and composed for and each track adds a different mood to each scene. The opening and closing tracks are very soft electronic tracks while most of the middle tracks are very heavy and lend to the tension and overall tone of Hanna's mission and the story as a whole. One of the main henchmen in the movie even whistles one of the tracks every time he is on screen and it adds a certain "creepy" factor to the character.

VERDICT

One of the best movies that I have ever seen. 

Even though this movie is definitely not for everyone, if you happen to like revenge/spy movies I really feel like you owe it to yourself to watch this movie. It is truly one of the only movies that I feel executed everything that it set out to and that is truly a great accomplishment for everyone involved.