Hanna

The concept of a young girl being a trained assassin is an oddly compelling one, no doubt due to the strange juxtaposition of the sweet girl and the ruthless killer. Cropping up in anime and film - Gunslinger Girl and Kick Ass spring to mind - the girl assassin is given a dramatic treatment in Hanna.

Saoirse Ronan (what a name!) plays Hanna, a lass of 16 years. Blonde-haired and blue-eyed, she looks like a regular girl, except when she hunts and kills a deer with her mad archery skillz on a generic snow-covered mountainside. Her father Erik (Eric Bana) seems to have raised her in isolation and instilled certain skills in her in preparation for some unknown mission. The first act concerns itself with establishing their relationship and has minimal exposition.

Once her 'mission' starts in the second act, we get plenty of fight sequences set to music. There's a distinctly 'European' feel to these sequences, which is a good thing really. Unlike Hit-Girl in Kick Ass, Hanna displays no glee in her killing, just cold efficiency. The action scenes are interspersed with scenes of Hanna partaking in 'normal' teenage girl activities. Some of these were a little too drawn out for me to be honest, but some involving another teenage girl - probably the first one Hanna has met - provide some really funny lines and comic relief.

The pacing is not too bad, although lacking a certain inertia at times. It's certainly not a non-stop crazy action movie. The acting from Ronan is inspired and believable. It totally makes up for the tepid The Lovely Bones. Bana doesn't have that much screen time, but he does his best and looks good doing it. Cate Blanchett is coldly creepy as the mean CIA agent chasing down Hanna and Erik. She's also obsessed with dental hygiene, which adds a bit of (weird) colour to the character.

The plot points are not entirely original and some revelations are a bit clichéd, but it's handled with style and good performances all around. For these reasons, I give Hanna seven out of 10 baby seals.