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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Hanna (Film)

by Joshua Blackman | July 25, 2011 12:05 | Edited July 25, 2011 12:06

While the performances are all strong, the real star here is Joe Wright’s inspired direction, which transforms this action thriller into a modern fairytale.

The best thing about Hanna isn't Saoirse Ronan's powerful central performance, Joe Wright's often electrifying direction, or even the pulsing score from The Chemical Brothers. It's that Wright, who's better known for his costume dramas (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice), has taken the thriller format and moulded it into a fairytale. The result is a technically virtuosic action film with folkloric overtones; it's Jason Bourne by way of The Brothers Grimm. The story isn't anything new but, as always, it's the execution that counts, and Hanna is made with such verve that it will likely be counted as one of the best thrillers of the year.

 

Saoirse Ronan plays the title character, a sixteen-year-old girl trained to be a ruthless killer by her ex-CIA agent father, Erik (Eric Bana). Having grown up in the snowy wilds of the arctic without any mod-cons (in a house presumably made of gingerbread), Hanna is perplexed and fascinated by the modern world as she and her father find themselves on the run from an almost comically sinister CIA agent, played coldly by Cate Blanchett with a broad Texan accent. Taking a detour from dispatching men twice her size, Hanna forms her first real-world connection with a holidaying family in North Africa, and, especially, with a perky and scene-stealing teen played by Jessica Barden.

 

Ultimately a coming-of-age fable, Hanna spends a refreshing amount of time on incidental moments of discovery. The cast is excellent. Bana and Blanchett are good value even when their often convincing accents waver, and Ronan (Atonement, The Lovely Bones) is an obvious star. What makes the film such a trip, though, is Wright's direction. Hanna is visually and aurally bonkers, and the way in which it combines outstandingly shot and choreographed action with a rich, almost arthouse sensibility, turns out to be truly inspired.