Rating: 2.5 of 5  

Hanna is an odd little movie. I was really curious to see what Joe Wright would do with an action film because his other movies are so interesting. And it seems like he tried to blend what he does into the action genre (instead of flat out making an action movie) and it really didn’t work. Because between the action it’s slow and not as emotionally interesting as his other movies.

The action, is really great. The way the music pulses perfectly with the hits and strikes and footfalls is phenomenal. He rarely cut away from the action or chopped it up so the viewer can follow the fight well. It was sharp and precise and because of the music I even enjoyed watching the characters run (which usually I like only slightly more than car chases which I don’t like at all).

Admittedly, there was one sequence that veered into weird 80s movie territory, but he didn’t repeat it. Still, that hurt the marks for directing.

And everything else in between the action wasn’t interesting. It’s always difficult centering a story on a blank character, because there’s nothing for the audience to latch onto. Surround her with CIA operatives who are supposed to be stone cold and it doesn’t get any more interesting, no matter how weird you make the bad guys.

So, the characters aren’t that interesting. Which makes the performances not that dynamic (and what was up with Cate Blanchett changing her accent? I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be something to do with her cover identities but even in that it was inconsistent and I didn’t like it at all).

With uninteresting characters and a very thin story, there wasn’t anything to hold up all the space between the dynamic action scenes. Did I mention it’s slow? And that the energy in the action scenes only highlighted how empty and plodding the rest of it was?

So, the parts I liked, I really liked. And everything else, I didn’t like much at all.

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