Director Tommy Wirkola (“Dead Snow”) brings the classic German fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel to the big screen in a modern and heart-pumping new twist. The original story by the Brothers Grimm gets a face lift in this more complicated and mysterious plot.
The movie brings the audience years into the future where the scarred children have been replaced with a caring but somewhat emotionally damaged Hansel (Jeremy Renner, “The Avengers”) and a leather-clad, arrow-shooting Gretel (Gemma Arterton, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”). The two make up the brother and sister duo known for their “for hire” witch-hunting skills.
Hired by a town that has seen 11 of their children go missing, the pair sets out to find the witch, or witches in this case, who are responsible for the kidnapping. Soon the hunters discover that this is not an ordinary kidnapping, and that Muriel (Famke Janssen “X-Men: The Last Stand”), a powerful grand witch, accompanied by the Tall Witch (Zoe Bell, “Gamer”) and the Candy Witch (Monique Ganderton, “The Cabin in the Woods”), are planning The Feast of the Blood Moon, requiring the sacrifice of six girls and six boys, each born on a different month of the year. Hansel and Gretel strive to stop the witches before all 12 children are killed.
At some points throughout the film, particularly the beginning, Arterton seems to overplay the role of a strong female lead, standing perhaps a little too tall and throwing out sarcasm too easily, coming off as almost a cocky know-it-all. She recovers her role, however, in the many fight scenes that follow. Still, the viewer might be left wondering how real of a character she is at the end of the film. Renner, on the other hand, portrays a knowledgeable character without seeming over confident. He is logical and straightforward, realistically portraying a brother who would sacrifice anything for his sister.
One of the most unique aspects of the movie was the mosaic of time markers. Although it is set in 1800’s rural German villages, the technology possessed by the witch-hunting duo, particularly their weapons, is much beyond the time. Although this mix might seem odd, these anachronisms served the movie well, keeping the time period and the villages with the traditional story and modernizing Hansel and Gretel to add intrigue and high-speed action.
Classified as an action-adventure fantasy horror film, Hansel and Gretel delivers on all four fronts. The action-adventure is fulfilled through the numerous hunting and fighting scenes where the brother and sister pair obviously know what they’re doing, working as a team and brutally taking down one witch after another. Fantasy elements are easy to spot throughout the film with elaborate candy houses, ghoulish witches decked out with computer-generated imagery and unique handcrafted witch-hunting weapons. Skull crushing, head chopping and witch burning all bring horror and gore to the screen as Hansel and Gretel shoot their way through each and every witch.
Overall, the film should capture audiences who enjoy a new spin on a classic childhood favorite. The graphics and action deliver a truly complete picture of a world riddled with witches, while Renner and Arterton bring adult versions of Hansel and Gretel to life.
