Hansel and Gretel the R Rated Version
After my previous unpleasant experiences with fairy tale movie adaptation (Oz the Great and Powerful, Jack the Giant Slayer) in 2013 I thought really long and hard whether should or shouldn't I watch this new Hollywood adaptation of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. Finally after seeing Jeremy Renner and Famke Janssen taking part in it I decided to give it a try.Hansel and Gretel are two siblings that lost their parents many years ago in a very mysterious way. This day they are witch hunters and they are immune to witch magic for unknown reason. Things get interesting after a local Meir hires the two to do what they do best kill a witch and on the way figure out the fate of 11 missing children.
I thank god that Hansel and Gretel was not rated as pg because that would practically kill that movie for me like it happened with my previous viewing experiences of fairy tales movie adaptations.
One of the funniest things about Hansel and Gretel was the association of multiple modern day factors in the medieval age when the entire story occurred. I’m talking about the weapons, fighting tactics, the slang and the entire behavior of the main characters. It seemed like most of the important characters were fetched from our time and placed in this fairy tale created by the Brothers Grimm. No doubt watching Hansel (Jeremy Renner) inject himself with insulin shot every couple of hours was amusing although not as amusing as watching the good witch use a custom made machine gun performing the medieval age extermination of the evil witches.
The fact that the movie was rated R gave it a lot of freedom to use the necessary blood and gore for majority of its action scenes. Without the R rating the movie could have become the same waste of space that Oz and Jack the Giant Slayer were. Fortunately for us Hansel and Gretel creators had the right vision for the movie. I’m glad that this fairy tale adaptation managed to differentiate itself from the failures we witnessed in the fantasy genre this year. Mostly it proved that fairy tales are not only for children. The grownups used to be children that grew on those tales and there is a market for them as well but only if you twik the tale in the right mature way for the mature audience (18+) to accept it.
The rising star Jeremy Renner had a good and believable performance as Hansel. He was funny when it was needed, serious at times and managed to handle the action sequences like a real action veteran.
Gemma Arterton (Gretel) on the other hand lacked some flair and wasn't quite exciting during the movie although she had her good moments mostly in the fighting scenes and smacking around Sheriff Berringer (Peter Stormare). I will give her credit for the action scenes because her character endured one of the most extensive beatings a female character seen on the screen in the last few years.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is definitely a cool movie that I will recommend to whoever wants to enjoy his spare time on something that is easy going and fun. The movie uses its core fairy tale backbone story that the Brothers Grimm created years ago to implement one of the most famous children story’s as a modern day action fantasy. I know a lot of people didn't like this Hansel & Gretel adaptation but I struggle to understand why. I guess this movie is not for everyone, I know I liked it a lot. if you want to relax, enjoy an easy going fantasy and see a couple of witches get wasted, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a film for you, if you want to over think, diagnose and criticize everything that is a slight stretch from modern day reality stick to Oscar nominees / winners to get bored to death.
Hansel and Gretel DVD (Blu Ray) Amazon links
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (Unrated Cut) (Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy + UltraViolet)
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Unrated Cut (Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy + UltraViolet)
I despise Renner the fraud!
ReplyDeleteWhy?
ReplyDeletei actually like him
I have many posts going back over a year & a half, explaining why I consider him a fraud & non-talent. :-)
ReplyDeleteHe's no longer a rising star either, every film he's in is stained & soiled beyond repair. Like the last Bourne film.
Whenever I hear his name, I start gagging.
The last Bourne wasn't entirely his fault. The exposition and the entire direction of the movie was wrong.
ReplyDeletei guess its your opinion, i like Renner.