J.J. ABRAMS, THE DIRECTOR OF STAR TREK, IS DIRECTING THE NEXT STAR WARS! YES! Ok, on to my review.
It seems that Hollywood has recently went into a phase that I particularly like. This new phase involves taking classic fairy tales and revamping them in unique ways for the big screen. This started with Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" a few years ago, and has continued with other films such as "Red Riding Hood" and "Snow White and the Hunstman" that have reimagined classic characters in more intense ways. The latest film to follow this trend is "Hansel and Gretle: Witch Hunters," an intense action flick that tells the story of the classic siblings when they have grown up.
But of course the film begins with the classic tale. The brother and sister get lost in a forest until the come across a house made of candy. It is only when they step inside the house that they realize its inhabitant is a man-eating witch. You know the rest...witch tries to eat kids, kids burn witch, happily every after...but not quite. It turns out that Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretle (Gemma Arterton) have made a prosperous career of hunting down witches and turning in their corpses for gold.
The movie really begins when the two witch hunters come to a small village where almost all the children have been taken by...you guessed it...witches. But these witches are a little more powerful because they have discovered a plan to make them immortal, and if they suceed it would mean bad news for humans everywhere...plus no paycheck for Hansel and Gretel.
There are three words that I can use to sum up this film in a nutshell....big, bloody fun. Now allow me to elaborate. I went in to this film expecting a cheesy, popcorn action film with lots of guns and explosions...and I got my wish. "Hansel and Gretel" is what many would refer to as a Guilty Pleasure film. You don't really want to like it, and you don't want to tell people you liked it, but in your heart...you like it a lot. The most recent example of a guilty pleasure I can share was "Van Helsing" with Hugh Jackman. A film with terrible dialogue, over the top plot lines, and great action...but I love it. "Hansel and Gretel" is very much the same.
But in terms of cheesy factor, this film is really not as bad as I expected. Ok, so the main characters are carrying shotguns, automatic crossbows, and Gatling guns in fairy tale world (not to mention spewing f-bombs). However, there was barely any of what I would call "cringe-worthy" dialogue and no plot-lines and set pieces that were wildly over-the-top. And because of that I can totally enjoy watching an automatic crossbow fire away at witches as they expload...in 3D.
Again let me stress, this film is not for those who want to hear some complex story complete with engaging character development. This film is made for a specific audience, an audience who want 90 minutes of fast-paced, fun action sequences that have a lot of guns and a lot of witches that bite that dust, some in more brutal ways that other.
And if this kind of film sounds good to you, then I will guarantee that you will thoroughly enjoy yourself in "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters." It's an intense, comedic spin on a classic fairy tale, but in terms of all the action films released on a yearly basis...it's a forgettable guilty pleasure at most. I give it two stars out of four.
"Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" has a running time of 88 minutes and is rated R for strong fantasy horror violence and gore, brief sexuality/nudity, and language.
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