Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D – 2/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D – 2/5 – Fantasy films; these are films that lend itself to the imagination and intriguing lore. When it comes to this film in particular, it takes a known fairy tale (Hansel and Gretel) and gives it a unique twist with some gruesome action, in the gimmick of 3D. With a mix like this, you can expect some sense over-the-top action, subplot entanglement, and the trait of having to ‘suspend disbelief’. Overall, if you know what you’re getting into, you’ll enjoy this B-action style flick.
Premise:
In this spin of a long time fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel, after surviving a witch and a candy house, become bounty hunters who track and kill witches. As the fabled Blood Moon approaches, the siblings encounter a new form of evil that might hold a secret to their past.
When it comes to the main characters of Hansel and Gretel, they are played by Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton. They performed their role as good as anyone can in this kind of movie, and provide a chemistry that makes you believe they are siblings. Dealing with a mundane script, they do well and adding some quality to their characters, and gives us some bad-ass scenes when they are fighting witches. When it comes to the witches, the main one they are battling in this movie is played by Famke Janssen. She is one of the Grand witches in the film, and she does (With some creepy makeup) provide a little depth to her character. She helps flesh out the siblings past, and gives us a different complexion of what witches are, compared to the general folklore. She also provides some bad ass scenes when fighting others in the film, including the siblings. When it comes to the rest of the supporting cast, they are the general cliché characters you would find in films like this. Also adding to the cliché element is the predictability of their actions in the film. This creates typical conveniences to certain scenes in the film, which gives us wooden characters, boring emotional scenes and overdramatic elements.
The direction of the film is very much a mess. Outside of the gruesome actions and fanatical elements, the movie tries to add some story elements in its fast pace direction. With trying to add some story and depth, we have sub plots of a love story between Hansel and a good witch, as well as a troll/human trait element that all becomes forced. In introducing unnecessary subplots, it breaks the fanatical tone and creates a linear narration, which creates obvious story elements that makes certain’ dramatic’ moments feel stale and the climax (outside of the witch killing) just generally suck. What also is a failure of the movie is that it combines modern dialogue and weaponry into a fantasy style film. In doing this, it wrecks the tradition of a ‘fantasy story’; which causes a suspension to the imagination. If you’re going to direct a fantasy film, you shouldn’t use modernized props to add layers, it becomes out of place and distract from the action. When the director does focus on the action, you are thoroughly impressed and engaged, thick and thin.
The visuals of the movie provide great strength to the lousy direction and script. Created in the cinematography is a believable fantasy world; through the character and town designs, as well as the costume and attire people wear. Along with this, the 3-D element of this movie is good. It combines the traditional gimmicky elements with an immersive world, and helps you feel when things are being shot at; are exploding, and a vastness of the woods, town and other areas of the world.
Overall, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters in 3D is an entertaining B-flick. If you know what you’re expecting here, you won’t be disappointed. There is some terrible acting, bad script elements as well as a mix of modern with the fanatical, but if you just want a popcorn flick for an early matinee, here is one for you.