Hollywood seems to have female revenge films on the mind these days. “Colombiana” just came out in theaters. There was the remake of “I Spit on Your Grave” not too long ago. Now we have “Hanna” hitting DVD and Blu-ray today. It was originally released in theaters around Easter.
“Hanna” revolves around a 16-year old girl who was “raised by her father, an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own. As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.”
When first reading the synopsis of the film, you would imagine “Hanna” as being a carbon copy of “The Professional” or any other films of that nature. You wouldn’t be completely off base in doing so. However, “Hanna” has a classy feel to it as well. Joe Wright wouldn’t settle for this being just another shoot ‘em up spy chasing action film.
“Hanna” is a complex and smart revenge thriller that shows the character having to come to grips with the customs and modern devices of the civilized world after lived her entire life in the middle of nowhere with no exposure to TV, electricity, the radio, internet, or anything else electrical. She’s had no communication with anyone except her father. It’s not just a girl running around trying to escape her killers and offing them one by one in interesting ways. It’s a “coming of age” revenge film, as ridiculous as that sounds.
Every actor in “Hanna” puts in an excellent performance. You can tell that each one of them is invested in their character and wants to make a memorable and unique spy film. Cate Blanchett plays a great CIA agent with a Southern accent and a license to kill Hanna and her father. If you didn’t know her, you would never suspect she would have an English accent. Blanchett’s minion, portrayed by Tom Hollander, plays the bad guy so convincingly you really start to hate him. Saoirse Ronan plays Hanna with such a believable look of wonder in her expressions and eyes when she encounters TV, friendship, electricity, and boys that it’s jaw dropping.
I found the soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers to get a little stale after the first half of “Hanna.” It gets to a point where you hear the drum machine and techno bleeps and beeps pick up in a scene and you know the action is about to begin. The soundtrack just became a bit predictable and tired.
“Hanna” will definitely keep viewers on the edge of their seat. It has a more sophisticated feel than your typical Hollwoodized revenge thrillers. There was a good amount of humanity injected into “Hanna.” That’s what sets the movie apart from all other renegade spy films out there. There’s a heart at the center of all the action and gunfire.
The regular format DVD version of “Hanna” comes with a few special features. They include an Alternate ending, Deleted scenes, “Anatomy of a Scene: The Escape from Camp G,” and feature commentary with director Joe Wright.
You can buy the regular format DVD version of “Hanna” right here.
You can buy the Blu-ray + Digital Copy Combo Pack of “Hanna” right here.
For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:
Writer Luc Besson’s ‘Colombiana’ Not as Explosive as Intended
New Thriller ‘ID: A’ Conjures Images of ‘Wanted’ and ‘Memento’
Three More ‘Spy Kids’ for Audiences to Watch
Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. He also served as a news reporter for the award winning movie website GordonandtheWhale.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo! Movies, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! TV, Associated Content from Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with iconic movie and TV actors like Harrison Ford, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Shields, Brendan Fraser, Gene Simmons, and many more. His personal website is www.ersink.com.