Not going to give you one. Sorry. I go into the plot a little in my critique below but the simple truth is the less you know about Hanna going in the better viewing experience you are likely to have. So there.

CRITIQUE

Here’s what I wrote about Hanna earlier this year:

“You’ve never seen anything quite like Hanna. You might think you have, the trailers for director Joe Wright’s latest (a change of pace from the likes of Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and The Soloist) hinting at female-driven action theatrics similar to those found in everything from Salt to Kick-Ass to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” But once you get past the silly revenge-fueled scenario this movie is nothing like those efforts, this wild and wooly adventure a Eurotrash cyberpunk epiphany of sights, sounds and sensations as uniquely different as anything to hit screens so far this year.

For 16 years Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) has been raised by her widowed father Erik (Eric Bana) in seclusion. In the further outreaches of North Finland, he has taught her all she’ll need to know if his daughter decides to introduce herself to the world. He has transformed her into lean, mean fighting perfection, the teen’s survival skills and combat abilities belying both her smallish frame and her young age.

Why has he done this? Years ago Erik worked for the CIA under a mysterious, cold-hearted woman named Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). It is because of her that Hanna’s mother is dead. It is because of her they have lived such a simple, yet brutally violent, life. This woman will stop at nothing to see Erik dead and to claim Hanna for her own, and if the teenager decides to leave seclusion then she will have to face Marissa face-to-face in order to have the slightest chance at securing a peaceful future.

Forget the plot. The scrip by Seth Lochhead and David Farr is nothing more than excuse for Wright to indulge himself and throw together something so unusual, so deliciously off-center, so bizarrely nasty and nihilistic, that to describe it in too great a detail would be to spoil all the fun. This is the kind of movie that knocks you sideways, sending you out of the theatre both exhilarated and stunned, unsure of what it was you just experienced but just as sure you’d love to sit back and watch it all again.

There are a lot of elements that make this film what it is, give it its kinetic kick in the pants that drives it towards its bleakly exhilarating final moments. Sarah Greenwood’s (Sherlock Holmes) production design, especially during a coldly clinical sequence where Hanna busts out of hidden CIA holding area straight out of the television classic “The Prisoner” but mixed with a harsh concrete and metal modernism, is magnificent. But then so is how director of photography Alwin H. Kuchler (Morning Glory) chooses to film it. There is a link between design and cinematography that is undeniable, and it is an elegant, almost ethereal symmetry that exists all the way through the picture.

You can’t talk about those elements, however, and not want to wax poetic about Paul Tothill’s (Atonement) editing. This is a magnificently put together feature, and whether Tothill and Wright are putting their own elegant spin on Paul Greengrass’ (The Bourne Ultimatum) signature quick-cut style, or whether their eschewing a German esthetic straight out of Fritz Lang (M) or Wim Wender’s (Wings of Desire) playbook, the movie has a feel that is as evolving and as enveloping as any I could have imagined. There is a stylistic flourish that feels like classic Werner Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God), the director and his editor calling on past influences confidently making them all their own.

None of this would matter in the least bit if it were not for two other things, the first being the performance of Saoirse Ronan. The former Academy Award-nominee is marvelous as Hanna, commanding the screen in a way no other actress has in 2011 up to this point. She is ferocious yet docile, questioning yet confident, winsome yet deadly, moving through a whirlwind of emotions with a devastating flourish that’s astounding.

There are a pair of scenes that signify this best. The first is a quiet moment between her and Jessica Barden, the duo sharing a quiet moment where Hanna realizes she’s almost inadvertently managed to make friend other than her father and, even better, one that is her own age and gender. The second is a climactic moment with Blanchett, everything Hanna has learned and discovered on her crazily sadistic journey down the rabbit hole coming to the forefront in a way that is startling. It’s a magnificent, multifaceted performance that struck me in the face with the force of a sledgehammer, Ronan making the case she is an actress of merit we are going to be talking about for decades to come.

The second thing that sets Hanna apart from the crowd is the music. The score comes via The Chemical Brothers, acclaimed musicians Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons giving the movie an audio soundscape so captivating and unique it’s stupefying. This is more than your typical techno-pop remix plopped onto a film for no other reason than to sell a few soundtracks. The music here accelerates the momentum, increases the emotion and amplifies the unnatural nature of all that is happening. It is an integral part of the cocktail, making this nitroglycerine-infused drink go down far more smoothly than it would have otherwise.

Hanna won’t be for everyone. It is a decidedly amoral entertainment leading to a shockingly barren conclusion that won’t satisfy all tastes. But that’s one of the reasons I so desperately want to urge people to go and see it. Good films leave you satisfied that you took the time to watch them, great ones give you fodder for debates that can go on for hours after you’ve left the theatre. Wright’s latest does this and more, and fans of quality, thought-provoking cinema should make sure and see it immediately.”

I am officially in love with this movie. I saw it twice in the theatre and have watched it three more since receiving this Blu-ray (one of them listening to director Wright’s fantastic audio commentary track). The simple truth is that the movie just gets better and better each time out, and I’ve quickly grown to adore it, and at this point I think it’s a pretty safe bet this one will be on my 2011 top ten list come the end of December.

THE VIDEO

Hanna is presented on a dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video sporting a 1080p 2.35:1 transfer. Stunning. Colors are strong. Image is crisp, clean and always razor sharp yet still maintains a resonate film-like quality that’s entrancing. Black levels never waver, and for the most part I couldn’t detect a single flaw. A superior transfer on the part of Universal.

THE AUDIO

Hanna hits Blu-ray with an English 5.1 DTS Master Audio track as well as French and Spanish DTS 5.1 tracks, while offer up English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitle options. Even better than the video transfer, this audio track blew me through back wall of my apartment. Everything is in perfect balance, music and effects never overpowering the dialogue. Again, Universal’s handling of the film here is exemplary, making for one of the finest Blu-rays I’ve had the pleasure to watch this year.

EXTRAS

Extras here include:

·         Audio Commentary with director Joe Wright – The highlight of the disc, Wright’s candor is downright amazing as he dissects and discusses every aspect of the film in a way that is fascinating, informative and a lot of fun to listen to.

·         Adapt or Die (13 minutes) – Strong featurette with Joe Wright, actress Saoirse Ronan, actor Eric Bana and stunt coordinator Jeff Imada going over the intricate fight choreography and the staging of some of the more complex action sequences.

·         Central Intelligence Allegory (9 minutes) – Joe Wright, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Tom Hollander and writer Seth Lochead discuss the trickier political and clandestine aspects of Hanna.

·         Chemical Reaction (6 minutes) – A far too short discussion about the film’s electric score.

·         Anatomy of a Scene: The Escape from Camp G (3 minutes) – Exactly what it sounds like. Interesting, if a bit rudimentary and somewhat forgettable.

·         Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending (5 minutes) – Wright made the right choice in excising all of this stuff, although the alternate take on the climax is interesting.

·         The Wide World of Hanna (2 minutes) – EPK filler fluff

There’s not much else to talk about. Like pretty much all of Universal’s Blu-ray releases, this one is BD Live Enabled and features the studio’s signature ticker function while you’re on the menu page. The disc also comes with instructions to download a digital copy of the film as well.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Hanna is mesmerizing, engrossing and in almost every way sensational. Universal’s Blu-ray presentation is immaculate, one of the best discs I’ve had the pleasure to take a look at this entire year. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.