Cineholics Review - Hanna

A teenage girl goes out into the world for the first time -- and has to battle for her life. Director Joe Wright weaves elements of dark fairy tales into the adventure thriller Hanna, filmed on location in Europe and Morocco. Hanna (played by Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan of Atonement, also directed by Joe Wright) is 16 years old. She is bright, inquisitive, and a devoted daughter. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a solider; these come from being raised by her widowed father Erik (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of North Finland. Erik has taught Hanna to hunt, put her through extreme self-defense workouts, and home-schooled her with only an encyclopedia and a book of fairy tales. Hanna has been living a life unlike any other teenager; her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. But out in the world there is unfinished business for Hanna's family, and it is with a combination of pride and apprehension that Erik realizes his daughter can no longer be held back. This turning point in Hanna's adolescence is a sharp one; she is separated from Erik and embarks on the mission that she was always destined for. Before she and her father can reunite as planned in Berlin, Hanna is captured by agents dispatched by ruthless intelligence operative Marissa Wiegler (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). Marissa, a career agent, has long been harboring secrets that tie her to Hanna and Erik. Detained for observation and held beneath the Moroccan desert, Hanna soon turns the tables on her captors. Her daring escape to above-ground thrusts her into an unfamiliar landscape and world which she must quickly learn to comprehend and navigate. Marissa secretly sends a team of agents after Hanna, and joins the deadly pursuit herself. As Hanna journeys across Europe and nears her ultimate target, she faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity. A Focus Features presentation of a Holleran Company production. A Sechzehnte Babelsberg Film GmbH/Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH co-production. A Joe Wright Film. Hanna. Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, and Cate Blanchett. Casting by Jina Jay. Costume Designer, Lucie Bates. Associate Producer, Josephine Davies. Co-Producers, Carl Woebcken, Christoph Fisser, Henning Molfenter. Music by The Chemical Brothers. Film Editor, Paul Tothill, ACE. Production Designer, Sarah Greenwood. Director of Photography, Alwin Küchler, BSC. Executive Producer, Barbara A. Hall. Produced by Leslie Holleran, Marty Adelstein, Scott Nemes. Story by Seth Lochhead. Screenplay by Seth Lochhead and David Farr. Directed by Joe Wright. A Focus Features Release.

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