Hanna

Impressions before seeing it
It looked like a cool assassination thriller, and my buddy Corey said it was good.

How was it?
To be honest, Hanna isn't really that original of a film on paper. It's kind of a mix of story elements we've already seen elsewhere. For example, Hanna and her father, their relationship and their lives, are similar to that of Hit Girl and Big Daddy in Kick-Ass; Hanna has been training to be a killer and a survivalist her whole life, living in isolation and not taking the time to have a normal childhood and enjoy things the way normal children do. But parts of this movie are devoted to giving Hanna those moments, when she finally goes out into the world seeking her target, and along the way discovers wonderful things like music and friendship.

I am okay with derivative parts because all of them go together to make an enjoyable experience (i.e. the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). Even though I don't think Hanna actually traveled around the world, it has that worldly, Bourne Identity feel to it because of its exotic European locales and espionage intrigue. And it has a No Country for Old Men feel because of the way Hanna and Marissa (Cate Blanchett) pursue each other without actually meeting while the tension builds for their ultimate face-off. Those are two great movies, so it's not a bad thing to be reminded of them. But as I was saying before, Hanna stops to make a friend on her journey, and that is important not only for her as a character and person, but for us as the audience to know that we are following someone human and not just a killing machine, even if initially being a victim gives her a sympathetic angle. We need to know she's capable of love and joy, that she's still a young girl, or else we're just watching a robotic murderer, and some viewers would have a problem with that. I have to give kudos to Saoirse Ronan, who is not even 18 yet and already becoming a character actress. I've seen her in three movies now, and if I recall correctly she did a different accent in each one, none of them her native Irish. I'm going to call it right now: this girl will win an Oscar someday.

Recommendation
Hanna is a very cool and slick piece of intelligent action. You'll probably have a good time if you liked the other movies I mentioned, The Bourne Identity (and its sequels) probably being the most similar. I liked it.