Not to be confused with a few other “Hansel and Gretel” low-budget horror movies that flooded onto the film-scene recently, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is the action-horror dark fantasy film directed by Tommy Wirkola. It is a continuation of the “Hänsel and Gretel” tale which was recorded by the Brothers Grimm. The film stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton in the title roles of a brother-and-sister duo of professional witch hunters. Famke Janssen stars as the deadly leader of a coven of evil witches that they seek out to destroy.
To be honest we expected much more. From the get-go you realize that this is going to be a rather one dimensional story with average special effects all hidden by big guns and fighting scenes. Especially from Jeremy Renner, who is riding the wave of success after Avengers, The Born Legacy and previous Oscar winner Hurt Locker.
The most amusing thing for us in the entire movie was the effort that went into crafting the weapons for the film. Pretty cool.
Conclusion:
Give this movie a skip completely or leave it for the day when you really have nothing to watch, and you don’t mind watching some mindless witch-killing. Director Wirkola’s 2009 film Dead Snow with Nazi Zombies was much more entertaining. What you get with Hansel and Gretel: Which hunters is the same tale told so many times over again, most recently with the film Brothers Grimm. It is nothing new and the cast was simply not able to add anything special to the fold with the story given to them.
IMDB Score: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 14%
[kkstarratings]
