20 TRIBAL ENTERTAINMENT 24 APRIL 2019 REVIEWS‘Hanna’ offers new coming-of-age story Hanna, Amazon’s new action series, pro- doubt from the viewer. vides Prime members with a fluffy but albeit Creed-Miles does a strictly average job at Hollywood revives dead francise entertaining retake on the previous film of the her role as Hanna. To be fair, Hanna’s character Destined for disgrace, Hellboy was as ex- same name. is supposed to be a feral and feared super killer pected, abysmal. With some memorable action Starring Esme Creed-Miles as Hanna, a with little emotion; Creed-Miles has the super sequences and acting horrific enough to make 16-year-old trained killer, the show tells the soldier down and can offer a refreshing dab of Keanu Reeves wince in pain, Hellboy falls into story of a secret CIA program, Utrax, to engi- emotion into her performance. It can just be a the same boring action cliches, separating it neer super soldiers from birth. She gives viewers bit boring and standoffish. from its original predecessor. a fairly gripping performance as a killer who can Kinnaman performs well throughout the Hellboy follows a rough and tumble half- beat down all of those who oppose her. show. At first a great ally, he then makes the demon hero, tasked with hunting monsters Hanna, an accident, is a government secret audience think twice about his motives. Erik’s alongside an unimaginative and unbearable and trained supersoldier. She and her father motives are revealed by his secrecy and lies to cast of heroes. In a non-surprising twist, now Erik, played by Joel Kinnaman, escape to the Hanna; he too was involved in the Utrax project, there’s an evil sorceress, who seeks revenge to Polish forest in the first episode. Chased there even working with Wiegler. He plays this role those who turned against her. Now it’s up to the when Hanna was a baby, well and delivers a con- grumpy protagonist and his unbearable cast of they train and live on the vincing act teetering be- heroes to stop her. land, secluded from man- tween Hanna’s father fig- Throughout the movie, one (and perhaps kind. They are forced from ure and someone involved the only) redeemable quality of the movie was the woods when exposed by in her misfortune. the casting of David Harbour as the namesake a stranger and separated. Perhaps the show’s hero Hellboy. With almost nothing to work Here the season kicks most convincing perfor- with, he was still able to stay true to the char- off and the viewer is im- mance is that of Hanna’s acter and hold his own against Ron Perlman’s mersed in action and dra- greatest ally, Sophie. original Hellboy. Unfortunately, his time in ma, though slow moving Played by Rhianne Bar- the light is overshadowed by quite literally ev- at times. We see Hanna get reto, Sophie’s character eryone, with each character able to pull off the a taste of normal life, true whets the appetite of the most miserable performances of 2019. inception and the pains of audience members look- For some reason, Hellboy made the deci- war. The drama is of course ing for an emotional roller scene against giants makes me praise the deci- sion to replace all the interesting and colorful spliced with moments of coaster. She provides Han- sion to make the movie rated R. Often times side characters of the original movies with most well-choreographed com- na with a look into normal movies are unable to express their creativeness bland and dry characters imaginable. bat. life. The pair go camping, because of a flimsy age rating. Hellboy takes ad- I have a specific bone to pick with Sasha Perhaps the show’s visit parties and provide a vantage of its R rating and rides it through the Lane’s character Alice, a character I can only most dynamic character very new lens for Hanna’s fiery depths of hell. describe as the Jar-Jar Binks of the Hellboy fran- is Marissa Wiegler, played life. It’s an enjoyable expe- Hellboy doesn’t reach far above your aver- chise. She serves nothing to progress the story by Mireille Enos, the Utrax rience to see Hanna’s feral age C-rate action movie. With its inability to and takes any chance she can to place poorly- project manager. Her moral character contrast with the create interesting, engaging characters, and its timed dad jokes that never land. She and stereo- conscience and sense of duty to the CIA are con- modern, controlled world. It can even be amus- script that seems as if it was written by a group typical manly-man soldier Ben Daimio (played stantly at war throughout the show. ing to watch her fumble around in this unfamil- of dungeons and dragon players hopped up on by Daniel Dae Kim) accompany Hellboy Unfortunately, the show does manage to iar place. sugar. Though fun at times and with a strong through most of his journey, leaving the audi- drag -- almost as if the writers added little to Sophie’s family adds plenty of fluff that al- lead, Hellboy is another unneeded re-adaptation ence yearning for the strong supporting cast of the existing plot in the first episodes. Towards lows the producers to stretch out the show into of a far superior movie series of the same name. the original flair. the end of the season, the writing seems to have a series. Necessary, no, but entertaining with a If you want a creative, absurd and bombastic Each minute passing in the theatre left me been pumped full of new life and some genu- doubt. The show leaves the audience with a very time, watch the original. If you want movie with begging for another fight scene. While surpris- ine creativity. The characters begin to explore satisfying but not so refreshing spy show. the same emotional complexity and creativity as ingly scarce, with sub par CGI, each fight was new areas of growth, and Hanna develops into The Bee Movie, then watch Hellboy 2019. entertaining enough to keep the audience en- a young woman of mystery that pulls the au- ticed till the end. A specially memorable fight Aaron Rothkopf dience along, creating waves of emotion and Ted Fairchild Killing Eve takes unique twist on crime-drama A refreshing take on the women versus women struggle of good versus Not only are the two main characters women in positions of power, but Vil- evil, “Killing Eve,” written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is a bloody series that lanelle’s kills also target powerful men and women. The power of the main charac- takes a hilarious take on a villainous female assassin named Villanelle, played ters sometimes surprises the men of the show. by Jodie Comer. The most intriguing part of the plot is how hard it is for the authorities to find The show was adapted from an e-book novella series by Luke Jennings. Villanelle and confirm her involvement in the kills. The first season chronicles Eve Polastri (played by Sandra Oh, who has It’s humorous how messy Villanelle fabricates her kills and manipulates the already won a Golden Globe for the role), an agent working for British intel- people around her. Being a woman made her much less of a target by the authori- ligence, who is determined to catch an elusive assassin that she believes is a ties. female, contrary to popular thought. “Killing Eve” is truly enticing because it builds a world around Eve and Vil- Throughout the season, the main characters Eve and Villanelle travel vari- lanelle’s chase to find each other. The victims involved and the overall conspiracy ous places around the world, such as Paris or Berlin, for assassination assign- to find Villanelle sets the show apart from any other series. ments. This crime-drama didn’t take the typical ‘women as the victims’ stigma like The characters of Eve and Villanelle mirror each other. Their best traits other well-known dramas. “Killing Eve” gives a new perspective on two powerful and worst traits are alike and their similar thinking puts them in a game of cat women working on opposing sides and learning their connection to each other. and mouse throughout the first season. Emily Davis