HANNA (2011)

Ladies and gentlemen, the first Oscar-worthy film of the year.

I am proud to report that despite all odds Hop was number one at the box office this weekend... wait - HOP?! Alright, I suppose that makes sense - due to Easter coming up and all (this just in - Angry Charlie's Hop review coming soon). But what about Hanna? Where was the love for The Lovely Bones star Saoirse Ronan? Where was the love for a great thriller directed by Joe Wright and written by new Canadian writer Seth Lochhead? Well, it was there (somewhere) apparently, as Hanna did finish in the number two spot - but still nearly $10 million behind a film about bunnies celebrating the death of Jesus (not to say Hop is about that, but you get what I mean).

Hanna is about a girl named Hanna (obviously) who was raised near-feral by her father Erik (Eric Bana). Her life is not that of a normal girl - she has no iPod, no TV, no boyfriend... no life, really. Poor Hanna hasn't even heard music before - and I'm not talking about Justin Bieber, either. I literally mean nothing. She leads this sheltered life as a result of her father, who is essentially training Hanna to find and kill one woman - Marissa (Cate Blanchett). Why Marissa? Because she's the woman responsible for the death of Hanna's mother, who also in turn framed Erik for the murder. All of this is only the cause for Hanna's quest. However, her actual journey is what makes the movie and proves that we can expect to see great things from Ronan as an actress - Hanna may provide her (along with some of the supporting cast) with an Oscar nod or two.

While on route to her destination, Hanna runs into a few colorful characters - including an English family with a girl (Sophie) (who is around the same age as Hanna). Sophie (Jessica Barden) fulfills the role of teaching Hanna about friendship. While Hanna is certainly close with her father, real friendship was something she had yet to experience - and for Hanna, it was almost as beautiful as the music she had never heard. It's because of moments like these, where Hanna connects with different people in her travels that Hanna feels like a road trip movie, akin to a film like Into the Wild. While it's obvious Hanna never loses sight of her main goal (to kill Marissa and reach her father at a predetermined rendezvous point), you can see beneath this overly tough exterior that she's really still a girl and faces the same conflicts a character like Pinocchio may have. A wooden puppet, Pinocchio just wanted to be a real boy. Hanna wants to be a real girl - but she's unable to and that's where the true tragedy of Hanna lay. Hanna knows this is not her fight, yet she's expected to continue a war she was a predetermined casualty of.

While the majority of Hanna is filled with wonderful learning experiences as seen through the eyes of this insatiable girl, there are some darker moments as well. The dark moments in particular are where the score of Hanna (masterfully done by The Chemical Brothers) truly shines. The score of a film is a funny thing. You hardly notice it when its barely adequate, but you can always notice when it becomes a part of the movie itself. There are literal reasons for music being included in Hanna (a record player, the sound of a metal rod repeatedly banging a concrete floor) but even when the score isn't an actual part of the action on screen, it becomes part of the film. The score for Hanna is not an afterthought as it is with so many other films. Instead, it's nearly as integral a part of the film as the characters, the motivations and the dialogue. Inception was the last time I remember hearing a score I liked. Let me tell you something - Hanna has twice the score Inception did, hands down (and I'd never even heard of The Chemical Brothers before).

Hanna gets an open door as it's a completely enjoyable film. It has no slow moments (just quiet ones) and has a certain intensity only previously experienced in 1998's Run Lola Run (a near perfect comparison, by the way). Hanna is not only directed amazingly well, but has genuine performances and a revolutionary score. It's fast, fun, tender and overall - perfect.

*Stills courtesy of Focus Features