0
0
Rating: 4 out of 5
We all have heard the story of Hansel and Gretel. The one where the mother doesn’t want them or is it, stepmother? Well, the dad leads them into the woods, but they make it home from a trail of stones. The next time they put bread which the birds eat. Then they become lost and roll up on a house made of candy, and how can I forget about the kids made into gingerbread men. From there, they eat the candy on the house, a witch catches them and wants to eat Hansel, only for them to throw the witch in the oven. In some stories, they find treasure and make it home to their father while learning that their stepmother has moved away. It’s a pretty good fairy tale.
Have you ever wondered what happens to fairy tale characters after the story? Do they live some grand life? What actually happens to them? Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters lets you know what happens to the characters after the story. Now some people and critics say this is an awful movie. I am here to tell you that it is crazy, weird and I freakin enjoyed it to the fullest. Maybe because it is violent and over the top and a new twist on the fairy tale.
Let me give you the lowdown on what this movie is about. After the events of the primary fairy tale. Hansel (Renner) and Gretel (Arterton) decided to rid the world of witches and become kick-ass famous witch hunters. They make their jobs look easy as they seem to be immune to harmful witch spells and curses. One of the downsides of the duo is Hansel, who is diabetic as a result of his ordeal with the old witch and needs to take a regular shot of insulin every day. That freakin candy messed his world up. Well, the duo comes to a village and faces the extreme challenge of an extremely powerful witch. She is stealing children with the intent to sacrifice them in an ancient magical ceremony to be held on the night of the Blood Moon. Hansel and Gretel soon confront their past and the secret their parents took with them on the fateful night they disappeared.
Okay, so I am going to be real with you. This movie is so over the top, bloody and violent that it will make you scratch your head in confusion, but it is a pretty good movie. The concept of showing what happened to the characters is excellent. I like how they threw out the whole coming home and living happily ever after to making the siblings badass witch hunters. The story does have some substance to it by having one powerful evil witch wanting to be something. It slipped my mind, or I really didn’t care because there was craziness going on. What I also liked is that there can be good witches in the world. Witches that want to help people but hey, for every good witch, there are like twenty evil witches. I like in the story how the movie brings the secret of Hansel and Gretel full circle, and the final fight against the wicked witch happens precisely at the house from the original tale.
Now for the violence, it is high and in charge. When you are witch hunters, it’s not going to be easy, and you have to get crazy violent. The witches are violent in themselves. Putting curses on people that make them explode or having them blow their heads off against their own will. You cant forget about the scene where the troll (yes, there is a troll) stomps on several evil villagers. How about that final fight scene where Hansel pulls out a freakin Gatling gun to blast holes in the enemy witches. It is quite insane.
One of the highlights of this film is the makeup. The witches in this movie are creepy, and all are made in unique ways. Muriel is straight-up creepy as she can change her appearance from a beautiful woman to a pale ass woman with black or is it blue eyes.
As far as acting goes, everyone did their job to the fullest. First, Jeremy Renner as Hansel was pretty good. I like the arc of his story where he had to take insulin shots because of all the candy he ate as a child. The BEAUTIFUL Gemma Arterton plays Gretel. She seems to be the brains of the duo and knows how to hold her own. I love how she just punches people when they are rude or get in her face. Whip that ass girl. Famke Janssen as Muriel as an evil grand witch who rules over a coven of dark witches is straight-up good and creepy.
I’m not saying this movie is an all-time great movie. I’m saying it is crazy and entertaining and should be given a chance to watch. It’s one of those movies that is so bad that it’s good. The story is pretty good, and the characters are entertaining. Next time, leave the candy house alone.
