Hanna – The Plot
14 year old Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) has been raised in the cold and wilderness of Finland by her father Erik (Eric Bana). She knows how to hunt, fight, use weapons and she can speak several languages. They have led this isolated life to raise and train Hanna, while Erick could stay out of CIA’s radar. When she is ready, she “lets” CIA find her. By the time the operatives arrive, Erik has already left. The plan is to kill Marissa Wagner (Cate Blanchett) – The CIA agent who wants Erik dead and Hanna captured.
And while Marissa was prepared for the kid to be good, her strength, agility & strength surprise her. Hanna ecapes from custody, and this unleashes the much darker side of Marissa- who enlists the help of the weird yet brutal Isaacs (Tom Hollander) to do her dirty work. It becomes the ultimate journey of survival for father and daughter, as they try to cross countries to meet in Germany. Things could have gone more accordingly to plan, however, if Erik had been able to anticipate Hanna’s social awkwardness, need for friendship and curiosity.
Is it worth seeing?
Hanna is a weird film. It is highly enjoyable, so as long as you can embrace the hybridness of the plot, the characters, the genre, cast and the director. Here’s what I mean with hybrid:
– Joe Wright is best known for his critically acclaimed period drama/romances such as Pride and Prejudice, and Atonement. If I were to choose a director for an action/sci-fi combo with dramatic and surreal elements, he wouldn’t be the first to come to my mind.
– The movie combines elements of fairy tales, genetics, the wild, the city, family, friendship, chase, fighting scenes, road trip – and spices it up with electronic music by The Chemical Brothers.
– Yes, there are implausibilities, but we did watch the movie with a certain sense of disbelief. After all, it is about a 14-year-old killing machine.
– There are holes in the story that are not necessarily plot holes. Many things – including motive and explanation for characters- have been left out of the script.
– And most of the characters are pretty irrational.
That being said, I have nothing against Hanna’s over user 7 rating on IMDB. It is strangely captivating, and the elements work despite the flaws. But brace yourselves: it is illogical, the characters are totally strange and our main characters cover a lot of miles either by foot, by swimming or by a caravan. But at the end of the day, it provides good entertainment with even better aesthetics.
Fun Notes:
– Tom Hollander has worked with Joe Wright in the movie, Pride and Prejudice. While his character was really annoying, he was definitely not a psychopath there.
– Tom Hollander and Cate Blanchett also worked together before. They co-starred in the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age where Blanchett played Elizabeth.
Other Movies of the Cast
Eric Bana
The Time Traveler’s Wife starring Bana and Rachel McAdams
Funny People starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen & feat. Eric Bana
Cate Blanchett
Elizabeth: The Golden Age starring Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish
Tom Hollander
Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen & Donald Sutherland
A Good Year starring Russell Crowe, Marion Cottilard, Abbie Cornish & Tom Hollander
