Saoirse Ronan Becomes an Assassin | SPIKE

Saoirse Ronan, whom some of you might have recently seen in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, just lined up a gig to play a 14-year-old, Eastern European assassin. Think La Femme Nikita, except way more adorable.

There haven't been too many wonderful reviews of The Lovely Bones, but that hasn't dissuaded director Joe Wright -- who worked with Ronan in Atonement -- from recognizing the great performance she gave in Jackson's film. It turns out he's pleased as punch to have her on his payroll again, and the story sounds pretty intriguing:

The story follows a 14-year-old Eastern European girl (Ronan) who has been raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. She connects with a French family, forms a friendship with their daughter and goes through the pangs of adolescence. When the girl is dragged back to her father's world and discovers that she was bred as a killing machine in a CIA prison camp, she must fight her way to a free life.

The story is being compared to Nikita and Leon, though, with Wright directing, it's hard to know whether his film will have a similarly hard edge to it. This isn't the kind of movie people want to get weepy over: we want our assassins cold-blooded and full of fighting prowess. Will Wright be able to deliver?

And does this mean that Ronan is becoming the next Natalie Portman? She's certainly landing big enough roles and getting lots of praise from all the right people.

If there are any annoying aspects to this film, it's the fact that it involves the unlikely scenario of the CIA training a young girl to be an assassin. Aside from the fact that this has been done (and isn't all that far off from the more comedic take Kick-Ass is giving it), and aside from the fact that kids playing lethal killers is quickly becoming a fad, it doesn't seem like this concept can easily lend itself to drama. The implausibility of the idea, combined with Wright's penchant for sentimentality, don't really lend themselves to an awesome combination of substance and style.

But then again, we'll really just have to wait and see who else becomes a part of the cast. And, of course, we'll need to see a trailer. Until then, stay tuned for more news about this interesting film.

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