Joe Wright | 111 mins | Blu-ray | 2.40:1 | USA, UK & Germany / English | 12 / PG-13
The UK TV premiere of Hanna is on Channel 4 tonight at 10pm. I’m posting this drabble review now to encourage you to watch it, and intend to post something more thorough at a later date, because it’s worth it.
Most action-thrillers are cast from the same mould; it’s the decoration which dictates whether the final product is a Steven Segal or a Jason Bourne.
Hanna is an original, though. There’s the genre’s typical globetrotting, fistfighting thrills; but also an allegorical coming-of-age indie drama; plus a surreal, fairytale tone that drifts across proceedings like a pleasant morning mist.
The director of Atonement may seem an odd fit, but he brings his trademark long takes to several stunning action sequences, bolstered by the Chemical Brothers’ pulsatingly memorable score.
Hanna will not please everyone, but some will love it — as I did.
This review is part of the 100 Films Advent Calendar 2013. Read more here.
Hanna placed 5th on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2013, which can be read in full here.
