This film is only interested in being a film. In wowing the audience with its blend of motion and music, in letting its talented cast give colorful performances, etc. It's driven by cienamtic energy, not real-world plausibility or even logic. Yes, you could go through it and come up with a handful of reasonable "Wouldn't their mission have been easier had they done this, this, and this?" questions, but who cares?

This is all also true of the James Bond and Jason Bourne films, and many others.

-In fact-, you might respect Hanna even more because it seems aware of its own absurd storytelling and embraces a highly stylized, Bond-by-way-of-Grimm style. Whereas a film like The Dark Knight, which definitely has its own share of logic/common-sense holes (right, no one noticed a schoolbus pull out of the destroyed front of a major bank), clings to a delusion of "realism"--so serious and gritty.

I'm fine with bending the rules for a stylized action movie. I'll even let the Hit Girl-esque escape fly. I'm not fine with basing the entire plot on something as UNBELIEVABLY holed as Bana and Hanna pushing that button to call Blanchett. They didn't even try to explain ANY motive to do that, they thought we'd just ignore it

The trick with fantasy/sci-fi movies is to bend our rules, but to maintain its own, separate rules. When it sets up separate rules and then breaks those, but pretends it doesn't, that's a problem

An awesomely twisted fairy tale. Expertly directed, well-performed across the board, and action-packed, with a great pulsating score setting the mood throughout. LOVED it. A-

Hanna is an awesome flick. So damn entertaining and well-crafted. The directing is superb. I'm fairly positive by the end of the year Joe Wright will have landed a spot on my list of top 5 director's of the year, and there's no way the score by the Chemical Brothers fails to miss my list. One can only hope it receives an Oscar nomination. Saoirse Ronan is fantastic in the lead role.

Joe Wright's best film yet and sure to be one of my favorites this year. This is a stylish thrill-ride.

A

Pigs will fly before AMPAS give the Chemical Brothers an Oscar nomination.

Not to say they aren't deserving (I firmly believe they are)...just can't see it happening, at all.

I really don't see why they can't if they campaign for it. How can it not stand out? It's awesome.

Well hey, Trent Reznor just got one... But maybe that's because he isn't credited as "NIN"

Still waiting for a chance to see this, but very excited...

I was thinking the same thing, and comparing this essential part of the story to The Dark Knight's bus scene isn't really fair. That actually is a random flaw, but it can be ignored because it's not really significant to the plot. The lack of an explanation as to why Eric Bana's plan was to hit the button, split up and have them get back together later, with the assumption that the CIA's detaining of Hanna will be so light that she can escape...that's not a flaw, but explain why he did that. I don't think that's dissecting the film too much. I realize that all the events occurred to make the movie what it was - if she did escape with Bana in the beginning, she wouldn't have the experience on her own meeting her new friend and exploring the world. But it just seems weird that a movie that tries to be the smart man's action flick doesn't explain the overall logic behind what's going on right in the beginning.

But otherwise, this was a really cool movie. The last scene was totally badass, all the performances are terrific (especially Saoirse Ronan), it's got a certain style that you don't see too often in action movies, and I did enjoy the score as well.

Agreed. Make up some silly explanation, I don't really care, it's a popcorn movie. But not even trying is a wtf.

"But wouldn't they blow up in an all-oxygen environment?" -- "Probably, but it's an easy fix. One line of dialogue. Thank God we invented the, you know, whatever device."

I didn't like it much.

It's obviously got a sense of style about it, but it's such a mishmash of tones and genres that I don't feel it ever developed a consistant style. Cool camera tricks and flashy editing mean nothing if there's no greater purpose to them. I generally hate the expression "style over substance", but I feel like this film suffered from a lack of deeper meaning to its flashiness and stylization. I also feel like this is a distinctive problem for Wright; though I haven't seen Pride & Prejudice or The Soloist, Atonement's biggest problem is that it's all over the map, tonally. Hanna has the same problem.

There are some great moments, admittedly (the long take following Bana especially) and the score is rather terrific, but, overall, I found it to be quite a mess.

I agree 100% with your review.

(I wonder how often we agree?)

10 times out of 5.

7/10 - B-

While it makes absolutely no sense (you can't really build a strong plot upon a huge gaping hole with no visible bottom), it manages to overcome the thinness and ludicrousness of the plot with great acting, great action scenes and even some great comedic parts.

I glimpsed a couple of reviews here of this movie and I think it's pretty much a consensus that it's a waste to bother with plot when it comes to review this movie. It's apparent it's just an excuse for some greatly stylized action sequences. In one hand it's a shame as maybe the movie would've been an instant classic with even a semi-coherent plot, but in the other hand knowing how Hollywood works these days, maybe this lite version is what was needed for the action to have the impact as it does.

The whole main cast is great. Ronan, Bana and Blanchett all shine in their respective roles. Ronan is brilliant as a warrior girl, raised with limited social skills but very easily adaptable in any situation. Bana has the power and the presence of a secret agent with vengeance on his mind and Blanchett's cold-blooded secret agent bitch role suited her like a pair of custom fitted gloves.

Also "Hanna meets a family" plot was a great way to slow things down a bit and bring a bit of comedy after a frenzied start and a frenzied ending that followed...

I know this is old, but, answering anyway. I'm pretty sure you guys forgot the part that they sent in a decoy when they were not expected to for negotiations. What this means is Hanna was supposed to receive incredibly close proximity with ease to blancet, thus the easiest and most direct way to kill her was to hit the button, allow them to pick her up, and go on. Obviously this was not what wound up happening and you have the plot of the movie, but I don't think that was an enermous logic hole, maybe just a bit of over-assumption, or something, I'm tipsy, whatever.

I have problems with why he didn't give Hanna a normal childhood considering that they successfully went off grid and nobody searched for them. So why did they have to push the button in the first place?

Way too many plot holes. Flicking the switch on to notify Marissa of their location? How did they even get that in the first place? Marissa not shooting Hanna and instead running around when she is wounded? Hanna running back into the house after she had to hide from evil goons and the guy told her to run away earlier? Hanna seemingly unfazed by the blinking light on the switch after she turns it on to notify Marissa but later on is awestruck by light then freaks out when the lights in her room start to blink? Using the internet? "I just missed your heart." *kills 2 seconds later*. The more significant questions weren't even answered.

Total waste of time. I actually liked the beginning. Sadly, the actors were useless with a terrible script. The girl turned in a pretty good performance but the other ones could have been played by another actor/actress and I wouldn't have noticed.

2/10

Shut up, whiner.

Hanna is pure awesomeness. Would be a great double feature with Drive.

Hey, someone's gotta dampen the love for this film.

Hanna is better than the horrendous The Soloist but nowhere close to the great work Joe Wright presented with Atonement and Pride & Prejudice. First off, Saoirse Ronan was not very good in this. She was just so… plain in this. Cate Blanchett’s accent was also quite horrible and her entire time on screen was poor. Eric Bana is not bad but his character is underused. The only good things I can say really about the film are that the action is somewhat decent and the score is really good. *1/2

Motherfu...

we meet again.

Hanna

It is like a chase thriller, but with a European indie veneer. It's patchy, though, and while I loved the long takes to progressive electronica, overall the movie felt lacking in something. Perhaps it needed that special element to make it stand out, or to warrant the grandiose atmosphere that lead to nothing. While it had plenty of greatness; the hunting threesome of two skinheads and a blonde-haired German (played by the great Tom Hollander), the cinematography and the soundtrack (adored it), it was perhaps missing a finale or a few money shots that would have made it more satisfying.

I can understand the reason for pushing the button to alert Blanchett of their position. It plays into the genre convention that 'you're never safe until they're all dead'. But what I don't understand is how she could use the Internet, impale Blanchett with an arrow by her side, and loads of other minor plotholes. But overall, I did enjoy it for what it was. The shot of Bana getting off the coach then walking down to the underpass and killing those operatives was pretty awesome.

As for the acting, Eric Bana was good enough, but Cate Blanchett was just a one dimensional villain. Saoirse Ronan played Hanna very well, and I enjoyed the subtle homoerotic tent scene. Jason Flemyng was fantastic, and I wanted to see more from that family. That plotline was kind of abandoned, though, which was disappointing. After seeing Anna Karenina, and now this, I kind of respect Joe Wright as a director. He's got an artistic eye, and his continuous shots are something to be admired. Now I have to watch Atonement, The Soloist, and Pride & Prejudice to gain a better understanding of him as a director.

B

I am glad you enjoyed it.