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| Saoirse Ronan as Hanna |
Joe Wright's
Hanna is a thoughtful action flick that takes a fairy tale premise, a foundling raised in the forest by a father figure goes in search of her real parents, to a very modern and satisfying conclusion. Wright has a good eye for tableaux and stages his action scenes effectively. The scenario ties in the Brothers Grimm aspects to the carnage in an interesting fashion. Bana, Blanchett, and Ronan are all effective in a lean, crisply paced entertainment.
Cate Blanchett plays the wicked stepmother role in Hanna and pops up again in the same role in Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella. Disney has spared no expense, the production design by Dante Ferretti and costumes by Sandy Powell are eye popping. The cast contain the usual British thesps, who Branagh keeps in check. There is little of the camp artifice that marred his Shakespearean comedies. Excepting some unfunny mugging by the evil sisters, Branagh plays the story straight and gives it the thematic import absent in most versions. Lily James is fine and the prince is somewhat wooden, as princes usually are. I saw this after reading John Waters' rave, thinking it would be good family fare and was not let down. Nothing earth shaking, but Branagh's best film since Henry V.
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| Lily James as Cinderella |
Jeremy Saulnier's
Blue Ruin is the kind of small budgeted indie film that is oft overlooked. The direction is assured, the acting solid, and if the revenge based plot seems a bit worn, that just reinforces the tropes that this Southern Noir delivers to the viewer. (2/22/16)
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