film: ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’

“Hansel and Gretel” may seem to be an ordinary fairy tale told year after year, but Director Tommy Wirkola transforms this story into a mystical adventure full of beautiful characters and stunning visual effects.

In this spinoff fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel become bounty hunters after being trapped in a house made of candy when they were young. In order to escape, they burned the witch holding them hostage. They discovered the highly lucrative career of a bounty hunter and now track and kill witches all over the world.

Once in a generation, the Blood Moon approaches, and if a witch casts the correct spell, she can become immune to fire. In order to complete this spell, a witch needs 12 children and the heart of a high-powered white witch. Hansel and Gretel are hired to stop evil from overtaking the land, and in the process, they unlock secrets from their past.

Starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton, this is probably the most creative film of recent years.

The idea is priceless.

Who would have ever thought that poor little fat kids would grow up to fight the ugly witches who force fed them candy? It’s almost like Cinderella putting a bullet through her stepmother’s head, except with less drama and more intrigue.

Wirkola is a relatively unknown name in Hollywood, but this writer and director definitely knows how to incorporate intriguing camera angles with an impressive sense of humor. This is no surprise since Will Ferrell’s production company assisted in the creation of the film.

The dialogue is extremely realistic with a hint of sarcasm. Both main characters come across as fully dimensional real people. Even the supporting characters are well developed and have unique personalities.

For an up and coming writer, this is impressive. Rarely can a new writer construct a full sentence, let alone add personality and humor to every word.

The film, as a whole, is beautiful. The forests come to life and the witches look scarier than ever. The makeup design and computer generated effects flawlessly blend as the whole film looks  realistic.

Extremely gory for no apparent reason, the film is just an ordinary action movie. It is extremely entertaining and well done, but nothing truly separates it from all the other action movies each year. It isn’t suspenseful, although it intends to be, and it doesn’t make the audience feel anything.

Good movies allow the audience to feel something, whether that be fear, suspense or joy. “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” is just a mindless piece of entertainment. Nothing wrong with that, but the film had a much greater potential. Unfortunately it is unable to compete with other grown-up fairy tales like “Snow White and the Huntsman” and TV’s “Once Upon a Time.”

“Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” is a fun and entertaining film unlikely to win any awards in the near future, but if you want a movie that will blow you away with visual effects and entertaining dialogue, you will like this film. If you try to seek deeper meanings, then you’ll probably hate it.

On a side note, stay away from the 3-D version. The action is so fast paced, watching it in 3-D will give the illusion of being on a very unpleasant boat ride. Spend the extra $4 on half a bag of popcorn or other overpriced munchies.

egolden@unews.com