Hanna (2011)

This is worth a watch, although don't go into it with high expectations, as this is another film where style outweighs substance. The stylings do seem different, and their crispness keeps one interested until the halfway mark or a bit beyond.

At the three-quarters mark, you'll realize you've been suckered and that all the previous visualizations and purposely stingy storyline are not going to lead to anything tremendously unique after all. Picture Jean-Claude Van Damme in "Universal Soldier" only replace Van Damme with a just-barely teenage girl, and that about sums up the premise.

I had some trouble in the beginning because Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) bears a strong resemblance to Cate Blanchett -- as she might have looked as a child -- so I had this misleading sense that there was some kind of hidden tie between them. This was my own dumb mistake, I guess. They did give Blanchett red hair in this, but I am used to seeing her as a blond. Ronan is incredibly gifted and literally carries the entire film on her tiny shoulders.

Somehow Joe Wright (the director) actually makes you believe that a scrawny girl is capable of not only fending off piles of Matrix-like government agents, but she can best them with just losing a bit of skin off her knuckles. I think this is due to the unavoidably slow first third of the picture.

I had the feeling of watching some weird mash-up of "Karate Kid" meets "The Bourne Identity." Blanchett is always convincing. Her part is fairly small, but she makes the most of it, and you'll feel like jumping into the film just to jab a jagged stick into her skull. Bana does a very good job himself -- even though it's hard for me NOT to see him as either Hector from the film "Troy" or Bruce Banner in "The Hulk." The key to liking this film is setting the bar fairly low at the onset and not letting the flashy style lead you into believing you're going to get something amazingly original.