Movie Review: Hanna

It is not too often that you emerge from a cinema thinking, "I haven't seen anything like that before." But Hanna (also the title of the main character, played by Saoirse Ronan) fits that bill.

This thriller is a well-put-together combination of a great story, striking scenery, fascinating characters and action aplenty.

You simply aren't quite sure where this movie is going. Teenager Hanna is no ordinary girl. As an embryo she was genetically altered in the laboratory to make her the ultimate killer.

She is blessed with above-average intelligence, supreme physical skills, and a lack of negative qualities like fear.

Hanna is a killing machine.

Soon after being born, the programme that created her was shut down and all the "manufactured" youngsters were killed. But Hanna and her "father" - spy Erik (Eric Bana) - escaped to the wilds of the Arctic, where Hanna grew up learning survival skills from her father while existing in a desolate cottage in the forest. Erik knew that the moment Hanna re-emerged into the Western world, she would be a target.

And she is. With a rogue CIA agent (Cate Blanchett) on their tails, Hanna and Erik must use all their skills if they want to survive.

Hanna goes on a journey of discovery after escaping the clutches of the CIA, trying to catch up on some of the experiences denied her while growing up in the wilderness.

Ronan delivers Hanna quite brilliantly. She combines a killer's ruthlessness with the innocence of youth.

Bana and Blanchett bring the espionage and intrigue to the story.

Hanna (M)

125 minutes

Stars: 4/5