Films I Saw Recently, Volume Two

Hanna
2011, Directed by Joe Wright

I often got the feeling that Hanna didn't know what it wanted to be. On the one hand it was a sci-fi enthused thriller that never let up the pace, and on the other it was a touching character piece that explored the mind of a young girl discovering what it means to live in the 21st Century world. In the end it bounced back and forth but ultimately suceeds at both, thus becoming the best kind of action-thriller. Combined with some complex imagery that asked a lot of questions for the viewer, this made Hanna one of the most interesting thrillers I've ever seen.
     The titular character (Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones) is the 16-year-old supposed daughter of famed spy Erik Heller (Eric Bana, The Time Traveller's Wife), being hunted by the CIA after he killed her mother many years ago, and hiding a secret. Operative Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett) is sent to kill Heller, who in turn trained Hanna into a fighting machine to kill Wiegler. She is also fluent in several languages, and her only other experience of the world is through Grimm's Fairy Tales. As Heller lets Hanna into the real world, she must run across the German world to escape the hands of the CIA and to find the truth about her conception.
     Hanna's main attraction is the direction from Joe Wright, the man behind Atonement. He imbues the story with the feel of a modern fairy tale, sticking firmly in the realm of the original Grimm's Tales, from the German setting to the dichotomy between the main character's innocence and the dark nature of her pursuers. For a few moments in the middle of the film Hanna meets some British tourists and, for the first time in her life, she explores her humanity and her relationships with other people and cultures, just as the fairy-tale protagonist does.
    I loved Hanna because of its haunting and evocative visuals and its breathtaking action sequences. It may end up a little confused, but it's a powerful and memorable film that ought to be seen for posterity alone.

Captain America: The First Avenger
2011, Directed by Joe Johnston

Getting ready for Avengers Assemble! next week, I went and saw Captain America, the fifth film in the ambitious Marvel Universe. These films are some of the best blockbusters of the past few years, with great characters, great action scenes and some interesting takes on the Superhero genre, culminating in pure and utter nerd fuel. Wheras Iron Man was a modern sci-fi-action flick, and Thor took on a more fantastical direction, Captain America examines more historical themes as well as modernising what it a fundamentally dated concept.
     In the 1940s, the war is on and young Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans, trying to recover his reputation after the terrible Fantastic Four movies) wants to join the army. After failing five times, German scientist Erskine sees his spirit and heroism and volunteers him for an army scheme supervised by Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to turn him into a supersoldier. Erskine explains that the last person to receive the serum was the mad Johann Schmitt, one of Hitler's head honchos whose obsession with Norse mythology led him to use the serum for evil means. Schmitt has stolen the Tesseract, an object from the Norse gods that contains unspeakable power.
     The serum works and through publicity deals Rodgers becomes Captain America, an advert for the US War effort. Finding that his army friend is in a nearby base of Schmitt (Red Skull), Rodgers goes against protocol and manages to save all of the prisoners. From then on Rodgers becomes the embodiment of progress and leads the army against Schmitt's cult, HYDRA. In the final confrontation, Schmitt is destroyed by the Tesseract and to save New York from nuclear annihalation, Rodgers crashes his ship into the Arctic, freezing instantly and only waking up, in SHEILD headquarters, seventy years later.
     Chris Evans does a good job of bringing a vulnerability to a role that is essentially Mr. Manly, while still being able to the carry out the pure action goodness that the Marvel Cinematic Universe provides. He's the centrepiece in a star-studded blockbuster that mixes retro stylings with the modernisation of a brilliant story. I loved it from start to finish, and while it may not be a particularly sublte piece it's incredibly enjoyable on every level.

Thanks.