Hanna

Hanna is the most refreshing action film I've seen in quite a few years. It's a film that doesn't reinvent the genre, but instead manages to just get everything right, including staging beautifully choreographed fight scenes without over editing them, which is a feat in and of itself.

Saoirse Ronan stars as Hanna, a teenage girl who has been raised in the arctic woods by her father, played by the amazing Eric Bana as a rouge spy who has trained Hanna to be the perfect assassin in an attempt to get revenge on the agency who betrayed him years before.

Ronan has already been nominated for an Oscar at the age of 13 for her work in Attonement, also directed by Hanna helmer Joe Wright, so it's no surprise that her work here is incredible. Her Hanna is a complicated teenager if there ever was one. She is every bit the killer her father trained her to be, but she's also a naive, confused and sheltered girl who is in the process of discovering who she is, just as most teenagers her age are doing. What's truly impressive though is Ronan's ability to go from vicious killer to innocent teen girl in the very same scene. It's a truly incredible performance that ensures Ronan will be someone to watch for years to come.

I have to say though, my favorite part of the movie is Eric Bana as Hanna's father. Bana is a complete badass here. Not only does he match Ronan and Cate Blanchett in the acting department, but he has the best action scene of the year so far with a jaw dropping fight sequence against four other men all shot in one take.

Which brings me to the action. Director Joe Wright has decided to just put the camera down and actually create an exciting sequence in front of the camera instead of trying to create it in the editing room. It's a move that is refreshing and old school at the same time. For too long now Hollywood has copied the frenetic editing style of the Bourne films fight sequences, and while I still believe they work in those films, I was so relieved and grateful to see such a ballsy sequence.

Before I end this, I have to also mention the film's score composed by The Chemical Brothers. I hadn't heard much of their stuff before this movie, but I can easily say that it's a score that's right up there with The Social Network and TRON: Legacy in terms of score's done by recording artists. Great, great stuff.

If you are at all a fan of action films and looking for something just a little bit different, then I highly recommend you see Hanna ASAP.