By Kate Rodger
After the relative misfire of The Soloist, British director Joe Wright uses all the tools in his filmmaking toolbox for Hanna, an action film you can almost taste, and one you can certainly hear.
A Chemical Brothers soundtrack and Wright's deliberately moody, almost arthouse approach to an action movie delivers us Irish actress Saoirse Ronan in the lead role.
Hanna's not your usual teenager, she's handy on the hunt, in a knife fight and when it comes to killing people generally.
Her skills have been taught by her father Erik (Eric Bana) which is not your usual parenting I agree, but it’s for good reason.
For Hanna, it’s a case of kill or be killed, and if deadly CIA agent Marissa (Cate Blanchett) has anything to do with it, being killed is most certainly an option.
It's true, I'm a sucker for a kick-arse soundtrack and the blockrockin' beats of the Chemical Brothers on the big screen in a big cinema are epic.
What the story lacks Joe Wright makes up for with his super-cool hyper-sensory filmmaking amping up the tension and the action.
The casting is universally excellent, rendering Ronan's stand-out performance as Hanna even more impressive given those around her.
Make the cinema one with superb surround sound, sit in the middle, and soak up a sight and sound sensation.
Four and a half stars.
3 News
Hanna
:: Director: Joe Wright
:: Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Olivia Williams
:: Running Time: 111 mins
:: Rating: M - contains violence & offensive language
:: Release Date: 1 September 2011
:: Trailer: Click here
