Hanna’s Super Bowl trailer promises action, as pilot leaves us with questions

During Super Bowl LIII, Amazon dropped the trailer for their upcoming series, Hanna. And while the trailer was thrilling, the pilot was definitely less so.

There were plenty of interesting and anticipated trailers released during the Super Bowl this year, but the one that caught our attention was for Hanna. Perhaps the reason for this is because for 24 hours after the trailer was released, Amazon Prime members had the opportunity to watch the pilot episode of the series. Considering that the new show won’t be released until some time in March, that was exciting news.

The trailer we watched was mysterious, thrilling, tense, and downright crazy. In fact, we knew next to nothing about this new show before the Super Bowl ad dropped, which made the trailer even more exciting. Of course, going into the pilot, I was expecting a lot.

And as IGN explains in its own review of the pilot episode, this is a narrative we are used to: an older man hardened by battle and the things he has already seen and done, helping to raise and mold a young woman into a killing machine, much like himself. It is something we have seen before, in different variations.

While this episode might have set up the rest of the series to be brilliant and packed with thrilling moments and plenty of action, I have to admit I was not as impressed as I was expecting based on the trailer. Sure, there were some tense moments, such as in the opening few minutes when we see a man sneak his way into a compound in order to kidnap an infant. And the daring escape that leads to his girlfriend’s (I think; it’s not clear) death, while he and the baby escape into the woods.

Fast forward about 15 years, and now we have a teenage girl living with her father in the woods, trained to hunt and protect herself. This next act is quiet after the intense kidnapping scene that opened the series. Sure, I can admit that there were some fantastic moments even in the quiet, as we see how fierce Hanna really is, training to be as hardcore as her dad. But it also felt like there could have been more to this episode, something that really delivered on the tension and thrills we saw in the previews.

However, there is something to be said for the moment when Hanna meets a teen boy in the woods working. This is clearly her first time interacting with anyone outside of her own father. And her introduction to chocolate (particularly the Snickers bar) is delightful. Even as she defies her father to meet the boy again and runs into a bit of trouble, we’re still left waiting for when things really kick into gear.

It is not until the very end of this episode that we finally get somewhere in terms of actual action, and this is what we came for. We get to see Hanna take on a grown military man and win. And we watch her save her father in the only way she knows how.

Basically, this episode gave us two moments that prove this series has the potential to live up to that trailer, but we wanted more. Now we have to wait until March to get more. We have to wait to have our questions answered, like why Hanna was in that facility (separated from her parents) to begin with, and who the mysterious bad guys really are, and even what happens next.

I admit I am not always the most patient person (which is why I usually binge watch shows), but this time I feel like I am justified in being impatient. The trailer we saw had such an air of action and thrills to it. That’s what I want to see. My hope is that the next episode delivers on the promises that have clearly been made.

And perhaps this is what Amazon wanted. They wanted to leave us impatiently waiting for more, so that even if we didn’t love the pilot, we would want to find out what happens next. (Of course, if you have already seen the original movie based on this story, then you probably already know and have no problem waiting.)

Did you watch the pilot episode of Hanna on Amazon Prime? What did you think of this first episode? Did it live up to the trailer in your mind? Tell us what you think in the comments.