We have been taking a closer look at some of Joe Wright's film as he returns to the director's chair this weekend with his new film Pan, which is based on the Peter Pan story by J.M. Barrie.
Hanna
We have already taken a closer look at Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, and The Soloist and today we put Hanna, which was released back in 2011 in the spotlight.
Hanna was the fourth feature film of Wright's directing career and saw him reunite with actress Saoirse Ronan, who had picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her work in Atonement three years earlier.
Hanna follows a sixteen-year-old girl who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.
Ronan is joined on the cast list by Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett in this great movie that put a new spin on the revenge thriller.
I have to admit, I didn't quite know what to make of Hanna when I saw it for the first time and I liked the movie much more after a second viewing.
This was unlike any role that we had seen Ronan tackle before and I look her as a teenage assassin who has the measure of everyone around her at all times. Of course, there is an incredible strength, ability, and fighting instinct and yet, there is something incredibly vulnerable about this young girl who just wants to know who she is and where she comes from. Ronan finds the perfect balance between these two different aspects of Hanna's character.
Cate Blanchett is also on fine form in the film as Marissa Wiegler, a senior CIA officer who is on her trail. As the movie progresses Wiegler get more and more desperate to capture Hanna and her father. It becomes a mission that consumes her and she slowly starts to lose her grip - Blanchett captures this wonderfully and makes a compelling villain. We don't often seen the Oscar winner take on villainous roles, but in Hanna she really thrives.
There is a gritty and an unpolished feel to Hanna and I think that this is one of the film's strengths - much like The Soloist - but it is a movie that is action packed and will have you on the edge of your seat.
Hanna was the first time that we had seen Wright step into the world of the action movie and his debut in this genre really is an impressive one. This is unlike any other action/revenge movie that we have seen in recent years and it would give the bigger-budget movies in this genre a real run for their money.
From start to finish, Hanna is a movie where there is danger around every corner, its action packed, and driven by two great central performances by Ronan and Blanchett - throw in a great and pounding soundtrack and you have a film that is a terrific watch.
Pan is out now.
Tagged in Saoirse Ronan Joe Wright