Art house meets grindhouse in 'Hanna'

If you see Joe Wright's amazing action movie “Hanna,” pay close attention to a scene where Hanna's father, Erik (played by Eric Bana), arrives at a bus station.

In one single, glorious, meticulously crafted shot, the camera follows Erik all over the station, through the crowds, down a long staircase and into an open area, where he confronts several would-be assassins in a breathtaking, masterfully choreographed fight for survival.

This accomplished sequence and others like it are why film critics will do cartwheels over “Hanna,” and why fans of action films will be impressed with this movie, one that poses the question, “What if Jason Bourne had a kid sister?”

Wright has put together impressive tracking shots before, such as the lengthy beach landing sequence from his excellent period drama “Atonement,” starring a young Saoirse Ronan.

Now, a more grown-up Ronan stars in “Hanna,” a slick and slightly futuristic thriller that straddles the line between an art house drama and a popcorn pleaser feature.

“Hanna” opens with a teenage Hanna hunting and killing a moose with a bow, arrow and a gun in some remote, snowy realm of the world, suggesting she has been well-trained in survival tactics.

Her father Erik, clearly some kind of uber-soldier or secret agent in a prior life, coaches her in the art of staying alive.

For reasons we will understand later, Erik uses every waking moment, even sleeping ones, to train Hanna how to handle herself in combat.

He rigorously pushes her to practice the many languages she already speaks fluently. He drills her in geography, art, history and political science. Even Grimms' Fairy Tales, which become a recurring motif in “Hanna.”

In time, we realize they are hiding from the story's Big Bad Wolf, Marissa (Cate Blanchett), an icy, amoral supervisor in a some secret U.S. agency.

Erik has prepared his daughter for the time when she must confront Marissa, who has her own selfish motives for seeking out both Hanna and her father.

Once Hanna feels she's ready, she accepts her fate by activating a transponder that tells Marissa where she is.

And the chase begins.

Flashbacks fill in the gaps as “Hanna” races through a breakneck-speed narrative shot on locations in Europe and Morocco.

Hanna is an innocent (she can't believe water comes from a faucet when she sees one) on a quest into a scary world filled with dangers and adventures.

Along her travels, she meets good and bad people, and most important, her first friend in the vacationing Sophie (Jessica Barden), a wicked-tongued teen who has no filter for what she says.

Hanna meets Sophie and her family during their nomadic travels around the desert. Sophie's parents (an unconventional couple wonderfully sketched by Olivia Williams and Tom Hollander) take Hanna under their wings, not realizing the metaphorical wolf will soon be at their door.

Ronan is a revelation here as Hanna. With her burning blue eyes mounted on an alabaster-white face, Ronan's teen looks almost otherworldly.

There's a reason for that.

And discovering it is only one of the many treats to be had in “Hanna,” the most remarkable and literary action film I've seen in a long time.

The Chemical Brothers' demented, rousing score combines with Alwin Kuechler's iris-boggling widescreen compositions make “Hanna” a sumptuous feast for eyes and ears. And the brain doesn't suffer at all.

Who'd have thought a violent teenager action picture could do all that?

<b>"Hanna"</b>

<b>3.5 stars</b>

<b>Starring:</b> Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Olivia Williams, Tom Hollander

<b>Directed by:</b> Joe Wright

<b>Other:</b> A Focus Features release. Rated PG-13 for language, sexual situations, violence. 111 minutes