I went into HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS wondering
what the conflict could possibly be. I obviously though it would involve
fighting witches. I was right and the plot never becomes more involved than
that. Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) are famous witch
hunters hired by a town’s mayor to defeat a witch. Of course, it turns out that
this witch is actually a grand witch, so she’s evidently more powerful than
normal witches. To compound matters, the night of the blood moon is happening
soon. This means all of the dark witches are going to be out doing dark witch
things. It’s a pretty typical plot with a pretty typical outcome. Although,
there is an interesting twist on why Hansel and Gretel were abandoned. It
wasn’t just because they had an evil stepmother as the fairy tale usually went,
but I’ll leave it at that.
At only 88 minutes, the film doesn’t allow you to get bored
or annoyed with the characters. It has all of the wonderful action flick
tropes: corny, tough-guy lingo, fast editing, thrashing body parts and
absorbing fight scenes. The movie is rated R, which allows for some awesomely
intense death scenes. One character gets pulled apart by the limbs until he
bursts. The makeup, wardrobe, and weaponry choice is fantastic and
eye-catching, and there is even a Frankensteinian troll named Edward who is
hilarious looking.
HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is no more than a fun
time. If you like fantasy and action movies, you probably shouldn’t miss this
one. It puts an interesting spin on the fairytale and it’s a fast, fun ride
that didn't disappoint. Considering the rubbish that is usually released this
time of year, that's saying a lot. That said, it’s probably not necessary to
see it on the big screen if you have a decent sized TV.
2 1/2 out of 4
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