Hanna [DVD]

This is among my top ten favorite movies of all time. There are many movies about young assassin trainees, at least one other involving a young girl (The Professional), but this kid really kills people, not just gets the opportunity then chickens out. WARNING: PLOT REVELATION: What I love is how believable it is that Hanna doesn't have "normal" social skills. She grew up from infancy in a wilderness, knowing only her father. He tries to prepare her for the world, but it can't be done. This story is in no way a "comedy" but her absolute geekiness gives the story magnificent charm. This part is very believable. What touches on science fiction is that like dozens of other stories, Hanna is bred to be a super human. BUT this doesn't take it too far--it's perhaps like the abilities in the Bourne series. (If you consider that humans have only 1/4 the muscle mass to strength ratio of all other primates, it becomes believable that some genetic tweaking could easily make a "Hanna.").............My only disappointment is that I bought a disc that had been a rental and it doesn't include the Bonus Features. I will buy a New copy so I can see them.UPDATE: Now that I've seen the Bonus Features, I Love This Movie More. Here on Amazon & on IMDB.com many people's reviews point out "errors" which are exactly what the Director intended, although some Clarifications had to fall out in the Movie's Editing. Interestingly, the Director categorizes this as a "Fairy Tale" TYPE of story. This explains some of the oddities. But his goal was to keep Special Effects to a minimum and instead have camera shots that gave the same Feeling to the audience. Examples, when Hanna and Rachel are facing each other in the van, both have the sun behind their back; when Hanna and Sophie are talking under a blanket, they keep flipping left and right in the screenshot. In the context of the scenes, all this is brilliant! It's storytelling at its finest.

I just binge watched season 3 and I don't know if it's because I watched 1 and 2 a long time ago but I think this could be the best season yet, although I still hold s1 really close to my heart. Such a great series especially if you like action and it has a compelling story to add onto that as well which keeps you engaged throughout in between fights. I hold s1 at heart because that's when we first feel the chemistry Hanna and her father had, s2 brings girl 249 into the picture, it wasn't bad though not as good as the fist season but in s3 everything seems more mature and it's just as thrilling as s1, brought back that edge of the seat feeling while maintaining a more complex plotline; you could sense the tension and urgency in each episode without overdramatizing it. And at 6-8 episodes a season it's incredibly binge worthy.

The trailer may exaggerate the amount of action that is in the movie. Hanna has a modest amount of violence compared to what I was expecting. However, the movie is still exciting.The movie has an impressive cast and it looks like the director, Joe Wright, took full advantage of the talented people he worked with on the film. I cannot point out any flaws in the performances. Based on the roles each individual was given, none of them disappoint.The roles themselves are a different matter. The developments of the main characters are not very strong. Even with an hour and 50 minutes, it feels like the characters are emotionally shallow. This is kind of a difficult thing to point out because if Joe Wright decided to linger on the feelings of each main character, the movie would have been extended, which may have lead to a slow, boring pace.Instead of a sluggish, monotonous tempo, Joe Wright goes with a faster, exciting rate. Considering how the events unfold, everything appears to happen relatively fast. One must keep in mind that a persistent government agent, aided by ruthless, resourceful thugs, is hunting down a little girl. The antagonists seem to always be on her tail. Based on their methods, the agent and her thugs keep the tension of the movie high.The excitement of the story is amplified by the music. Hanna is a fine example of how the soundtrack can be crucial to storytelling. The best scenes of the movie tend to be accompanied by the sounds of The Chemical Brothers.Finally, the action is probably the main attraction based on the trailer. While I did mention that the action is modest, the fight and chase scenes are spectacular. When I say modest, I imply that the frequency of the action is modest. Hanna is not the type of action movie that incorporates intricate fighting sequences in every other scene. The makers of the movie do a fine job of balancing story structure and fight choreography.My rating of this movie is four stars, but the rating reflects the fact that I rented the movie for $3.99. Hanna is a sweet movie for a $3.99 rental. If I saw this movie in the theaters or if I purchased a copy for my collection, I would have given Hanna a three, if not two, star rating. This is the type of movie that a person watches once and seldom views certain scenes.