No kids’ stuff

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters:

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Witches in action

Hansel and Gretel

Alice In Wonderland, Red Riding Hood, Beastly, Mirror Mirror; and Snow White and the Huntsman reignited Hollywood’s interest towards fairytales while movies like the Twilight series won over an audience for fantasy and myth. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters clearly follows this trend yet it is aimed at a much elder audience.

The fantasy action film is a continuation of the famous fairytale. It starts off on familiar ground in which the two children kill a witch who lives at the heart of the forest in a gingerbread house and holds the children captive with the idea of gobbling them.

The film runs forward, around a decade or two ahead of this incident to show the heroic orphans being hired by the Mayor of Augsburg to track down the witches who are kidnapping their children.

Though they have succeeded in a number of witch killing expeditions in the past Hansel and Gretel find that they are up against a new challenge when they encounter Muriel and her coven of witches.

This grand-old witch who takes human form is not only after children but needs Gretel’s ‘white witch’ heart to cast a spell on the Blood Moon night so that they can become immortal.

The setting is confusing as we see that in most instances the background is from ancient times. Yet we get modern machinery such as shot guns making it to the screen. Hansel suffers from diabetes and gets insulin shots in an era when such medication was yet to be discovered.

Famke Janssen as Muriel

The projection of the witches too lack innovation as they are the typical crude, ugly and skin-cracked beings with crooked nails and big, black eyes, riding on broomsticks and taking the guise of humans.

The action leaves us depressed because most of the scenes seem to be repetitions of fights between the siblings with the witches or with thugs hired by the village Sheriff.

Though the inspiration comes from one of Grimm’s well-loved stories the movie is clearly not meant for children. The movie reeks of too much dark imagery, bloodshed and violence. Characters exploding and splattering blood all over walls seem to be a regular feature in the movie. Add the regularly used foul language to this aspect.

It is a pity that such tactics are used in the production because director Tommy Wirkola could clearly have made a better production for the family by using the same storyline but projecting it in a different manner. Nothing in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters seems fresh and new.

One of the few truly memorable scenes in the movie is the bond between Gretel and Edward, the troll. Another is in the tale on how the childrens’ parents sacrificed their lives on behalf of their children.

The 3D effects are done well but since many of the other elements of the movie are not up to expectations these plus points fail to contribute significantly to the production.

Jeremy Renner is expected to give a new twist to his The Bourne Legacy series role trough Hansel’s character. Though the role does not sit well on him he manages to keep the audience focused.

He has toned down the effort he has given into projects like Hurt Locker to give a lighter feel to Hansel’s character.

Gemma Arterton makes a divine Gretel. She should be commended for her effort despite being a sugar coat for it. She is the real star of the movie, especially after the truth behind their parents’ identity and the need to possess her heart for dark magic is revealed.

Pihla Viitala is not particularly enticing as the white witch Meera. Famke Janssen is entertaining in her broomstick ventures and burst of temper as the powerful Muriel.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters lacks the spark and the fun expected from movies of this genre. It concentrates on the action and does not care to go into details. The lack of logic as well as refinery lets down this version of a grim Grimm tale.