In late January, Paramount Pictures released Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters in North America. After witnessing this movie in 3D, I must say I am not looking forward to the stream of fairytale movies that are soon to be hitting the silver screen.
First, let us start off with the characters. Every single character, including Hansel and Gretel (played by Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton, respectively), lacked depth. No one brought any personality to the screen. Even when there was a major death, I could not bring myself to care about it simply because the characters had nothing special about them. In Hansel and Gretel, it is simply impossible to enjoy any of the characters within the movie.
The only character that is possible to have any emotional attachment to would have to be the troll, Edward (Derek Mears), who really serves no purpose in the film except for occasionally saving Gretel and killing a witch or two. There were not any quirks about the characters that made the audience fall in love with them. If someone cannot love the characters, they simply cannot love the movie.
Then, there was the movie itself. It was completely dull. The creators tried making Hansel and Gretel funny but failed. The jokes were far and few in between, and none of them were worthwhile. The action scenes weren’t spectacular, and overall nothing from the movie was memorable.
Even the plotline was boring. Everything that happened within the movie could be predicted within the first twenty minutes. The producers tried to throw in some twists, but every little detail could be seen from a mile away.
The only praise that I have for Hansel and Gretel is for the visual aspects of the film, and that is only because they were not as terrible as the rest of the movie. While the overall setting seemed a little cartoony at times, Hansel and Gretel manages to capture a fairytale land in ways that have not been captured on the silver screen since The Brothers Grimm.
The sets could range anywhere between bright and cheerful to dark and morbid, all depending on the scene. Each scene was beautifully crafted so that (if it weren’t for the bad acting) the audience is able to envision themselves in the world of Hansel and Gretel.
When it came to the witches, no warts or green, pasty skin was to be found throughout Hansel and Gretel. The witches were beautifully formed with their skin rotting off, torn clothing, and an overall dark appearance to them.
Overall, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters turned out to be a dull movie. With bad acting, a terrible plotline, and simply a lack of depth to the movie, Hansel and Gretel is not a movie that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in being entertained.
Grade: D-