0 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters


Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Pihla Vitala, Thomas Mann, Peter Stormare
Directed by: Tommy Wirkola
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) are bounty hunters who kill witches. They face their greatest threat when a powerful witch (Famke Janssen) plots to increase their power immensely.

Review:

Tim: Look, I'm always honest with you, so I have no problem admitting that I thought Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters looked like crap. Did this movie need to be made? Hasn't the whole fairy tale reimagining thing been done to death? This movie looked and felt like a throwaway, a cheap money grab with minimal effort put in. In short, I was convinced this movie was going to suck. Now, don't get me wrong- this is not a good movie at all. However, it's so much better than it had any right to be. While I didn't love the movie, I didn't hate it, either. It was fun and somewhat entertaining. For a film that looked so bad, for it to turn out decent is a huge achievement.

There's a certain tongue-in-cheek aspect to this film. The whole tone of the movie is one of fun- the movie seems to know that it's completely ridiculous, and yet, it's willing to press on anyway. This movie would have been awful if the writers, stars, producers, and directors took the film too seriously. Luckily, they are determined to have fun with the story and characters. That tone made this movie entertaining. I felt some legitimate enjoyment watching this film.

The cast is decent, and I loved their "wink-wink" performances. They realize this whole thing is a bit crazy, so they adjust their performances accordingly. Jeremy Renner was decent, but he certainly didn't give his best effort here. He was slightly charismatic, although I have to admit there were times when it felt like he was sleepwalking through the performance. Still, he does just enough to make it work. I really like Gemma Arterton, and I thought she did a pretty good job here. Again, she didn't exert herself in the acting department, but she worked. I didn't necessarily believe Renner and Arterton were siblings, but they did work fairly well together. Famke Janssen was fun in an extremely over-the-top performance. The cast is certainly not good, but it works in a goofy sort of way.

The other thing that made this movie work is the 'R' rating. I can't stress how important this was to the overall film. We've had so, so many of these watered down PG-13 fairy tale reimaginings that they all blend together. Making this an R-rated film, complete with graphic language, helped separate this from many of the other similar films. When the first F-bomb was dropped, I sat up and paid attention. That really made a difference to the film.

While I admit I had some goofy fun with this crazy story, the end result is that we're still watching a movie about witch bounty hunters with ridiculous advanced technology. The whole thing is beyond absurd. The movie never really connects with the audience. It never gives us much of a reason to suspend our disbelief. The movie is thankfully only 88 minutes long, but even with that short run time, it starts to lose its steam at the end.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters easily could have been an unmitigated disaster. It's so fortunate that those involved took the right approach with this material. No one will ever, ever mistake this for a good movie. It's pretty rough in many areas. However, this movie is far better than it had any right to be. It's not good, but it's not exceptionally bad, either. That is a huge, huge achievement.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Clash of the Titans, The Brothers Grimm