Ten Stars or Less

run time: 111 mins
rated: PG-13
considered: Action, Adventure, Thriller
director: Joe Wright
starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Barden, Aldo Maland, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, Martin Wutke

movie summary: Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a 15-year-old girl who has been living in seclusion in northern Finland. She lives with her dad Erik Heller (Eric Bana) who is protecting her from Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), a CIA officer who wants her dead. Hanna has been trained to be an assassin and survive any situation she may encounter, so once Marissa finds out Hanna’s alive, she will launch a massive manhunt across Europe to kill her.

Erik and Hanna have lived off the land for over a decade, they kill to eat, they train by battling each other, and Erik has create a back story that Hanna can tell anyone she meets in the real world. After she has mastered self-defense, multiple languages, the plan to kill Marissa, and the place to meet her dad in Germany, she tells Erik that she’s ready. Erik digs out a personal indicator device that he turns on, and within a few hours he heads out on foot leaving Hanna alone to fend for herself when the forces show up. Erik was their main objective so Hanna is spared which Marissa arranges for her to be brought to an observation centre where she breaks out by killing a handful of guards. Marissa is surprised that Hanna has turned out to be so good both mentally and physically.

In Morocco Hanna meets Sophie (Jessica Barden) and her brother Miles (Aldo Maland) who are on a camping trip. Sophie thinks Hanna is weird but offers to hang out with her anyways, that night Sophie’s family camps before hitching a ride on a ferry to Spain. Hanna breaks into the camper and hides to get a ride. Once Hanna sneaks out Sophie is surprised to see her but is excited because now they can go on a double date with some cute boys. When the boy is about to kiss Hanna she flips him over and pins him to the ground much to the surprise of everyone around. Sophie’s parents agree to have Hanna stay with them for the rest of the trip which will end up in Germany.

Marissa tracks down a friend and former agent named Isaacs (Tom Hollander) who can use dirty tactics that she doesn’t want or need to know about. Isaacs and his guys get right on Hanna’s trail in France, where they kidnap Sophie and her family to find out that Hanna is headed to Berlin. Marissa, Isaacs, and his guys get there to ambush Hanna and Erik when they meet. Erik is able to fight off three guys which gives Hanna a chance to run away. Marissa follows her with a gun in her hand because she wants to put an end to this once and for all. Hanna is very adaptable to her surroundings and will try her best to defend herself and/or kill Marissa if she has to.

my thoughts: Hanna is a unique spin on the classic trained assassin story. Usually someone grows up, goes through elite training, and then seeks revenge for past wrongs. Hanna is moulded from birth and spends 15 years living off the land to learn how to survive with little to nothing. Her back story explains her master skill set and why she has been protected for so long.

Cate Blanchett is great as the CIA agent that has some skeletons in her closet and is willing to pull out all the stops to cover them up. She reaches out to some ruthless people who expose us to the shady parts of Europe that we don’t see in travel brochures. Poor Hanna is just a regular girl who is freaked when she’s on her own in the real world because there’s so much going on around her. She carries herself extremely well considering she has to live her life constantly looking over her shoulder.

This action packed thriller has a pulsating soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers that supplements movie at every turn. The photography and characters make Hanna a unique European style film that will please action movie fanatics while others won’t find this to be their cup of tea.

my star rating: 8 out 10

imdb.com: 6.8 out 10
rottentomatoes.com: 72% out 100%
metascore: 65/100