Thoughts on Hanna

Sunday, April 17, 2011 6:31 PM By Simon

-Saoirse (pronounced like Sersha, evidentally) Ronan is the title character, a girl raised in the wilderness by her ex-CIA father (Eric Bana) to kill Marissa Weigler (Cate Blanchett), his corrupt handler.

-Ronan is an international treasure that must be used widely, lest we put all the crappy child actors out of work, the poor dears. Here, she manages to be cold, amazed, delighted, terrified, confused, and, uh, probably a bunch of other things. With eyebrows that blend into her forehead, a German accent that's nearly human, wide, focused eyes, and a weirdly androgynous face, she's kind of an alien, walking around Morocco in a daze. Plus a bunch of specific scenes I won't spoil.

-Bana's around. His fight scenes are the best. Kind of only there in the beginning and the end.

-Cate Blanchett is a combination of barely concealed crazy, a cross-country US accent, and monstrous teeth, in a not-particularly-pleasant mix. It's not as good as it sounds. Except when she speaks German, her Southern accent is exaggerated delightfully.

-Olivia Williams and Jason Flemyng lead a British family on vacation who Hanna takes refuge with, experiencing something like normalcy for the first time. While not necessarily the best bit, it's maybe...charming, her interactions with the chattering daughter Sophie (Jessica Barden) especially amusing, creeping into sweetly genuine.

-Tom Hollander is one creepy-ass motherfucker.

-Okay. Movie itself. I find it hard to pick at a plot as long as it keeps me entertained. Which it did. So I won't.

-The score by the Chemical Brothers is different from most action scores, electronic and booming and mad, kind of adding to the fairy-tale-on-something feel, making the action sequences especially fluid.

-The ending reminded my sister of Antichrist. Make of this what you will.

22 comments:

Castor said...

I'm intrigued by this but evidently, I will wait for it on DVD :) And yes, you won't be catching me trying to pronounce "Saoirse" in public...

PS: I posted your guest post yesterday. (A week late sorry!)

April 18, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Notas Sobre Creación Cultural e Imaginarios Sociales said...

Gah I'm like dying to see this! I wanna go to a rave with Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana too, bet they're fun dance partners.

April 18, 2011 at 2:30 PM
Colin Biggs said...

I was a big fan of this. Agree with you on Blanchette though. I don't know what it is about playing FBI/CIA but actors need to add Southern accents for no reason i.e. Andy Garcia in Smokin' Aces.

April 19, 2011 at 8:20 PM
Simon said...

Sugary: Tom Hollander should be on some sort of watchlist by now.

Castor: Hazzah! But, I noticed, you left out that stupid, poorly written, and entirely unnecessary bit with the two Ye Olde dudes reacting to trailers. Good call, my dear lad. I like saying 'dear lad'. That's your name now.

Jose: Guy, if you can get a picture of Eric Bana with a binkie, you will hear no complaints from me.

Fitz: Because it's our kneejerk tendency to equate (spelled!) all unpleasant authority figures with the South. It's like how supervillains are all Russian.

April 20, 2011 at 1:16 AM
Darren said...

@ Castor: It's like "s'air" (like the first syllable of "sarah") and "sha". Trust me, it's not the least pronounceable Irish name. Yes, it's a beautiful language...

"Is maith liom caca milis."
(pronounced: "is my lum caa-ca millish")
(translation: "I like cake")

April 20, 2011 at 12:22 PM
Luke said...

Man, I'm all about Saoirse. She already has some great roles under her belt. If Meryl Streep is the new Katharine Hepburn, and Kate Winslet is the new Meryl Streep, then Ronan is definitely the new Kate Winslet, in my book.

April 20, 2011 at 1:35 PM
Franz Patrick said...

I pronounce her name "Soir-" (like noir) "-see." It's harder to say than "Ignatiy Vishnevetsky."

The movie! Well, you read my review but I'm glad you enjoyed it more than I did. The lesbian undertones made me feel weird, though.

I stand by my theory that Cate Blanchett's character was inspired by Dana Scully. It's the awesome haircut.

The eyebrows blending into Soir-see's forehead is edgy high fashion. I reckon she's been looking at Vogue or something while she was up there in the mountains.

April 21, 2011 at 2:14 PM
M. Hufstader said...

I think "fairy-tale-on-something feel" is one of the best ways to describe this movie. That really says it all. Great review! And so far, the only review I've read that's given a nod to her invisible eyebrows. I vote an Oscar for those creepy ass eyebrows.

April 26, 2011 at 3:23 PM
Simon said...

Luke: I don't speak math, dear. But yes, Ronan will certainly be the new Shit.

Franz: I never even said it, everytime I'd read it, I would just go like "Sllllllll Ronan". Is that the guy from At the Movies?

M. Hufstader: They speak to my soul, those eyebrows.

April 28, 2011 at 9:38 PM
Franz Patrick said...

Yep! He looks like a puppet to me for some reason. (Or at least initially.) Like that puppet from Interpol's "Evil" music video...

April 29, 2011 at 5:01 PM
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