"The only good witch is a dead witch," Hansel

Keep in mind; this is not your childhood Hansel and Gretel movie. This movie is a very dark fantasy about witch hunters. The movie opens with the father leaving Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) alone in the woods. While waiting for his return, they happen upon a life-size gingerbread house. Pretty much every child’s dream, right? While eating the candy, they are lured inside and held captive by the dark witch. They finally kill the witch and escape.

Fast forward, Hansel and Gretel are now famous witch hunters. They also believe they have the ability to tell if someone is a witch, but it turns out their power only works in identifying the bad witches. As the story goes, the children are starting to disappear so the sheriff hires Hansel and Gretel to find them. At the same time, the Blood Moon is set to rise in three days. Blood Moon is when the witches must sacrifice twelve children in order to gain immunity to fire. Hansel and Gretel must find the children and slay the witch before this happens. Finally, while all this is going on, Hansel and Gretel are trying to discover the secret of their parents.

Great movie moments:

Jeremy Renner is perfect as the sarcastic, wise-cracking Hansel.
Famke Janssen plays Muriel evil grand witch. Her character frequently transforms between a beautiful then an ugly. The makeup and costume design are excellent.

Viewers who enjoy dark, adult fairy-tales may enjoy Hansel and Gretel.

Not so great movie moments:

They made insulin back then? While a child captive, Hansel was fed so much candy, he became a diabetic and must take insulin shots every few hours in order to live. While I appreciate the nod to modern healthcare, the movie plot would have moved along fine without this particular out-of-place situation.

An electrocution device? Another modern out-of-place instrument used to Taser a bad witch and a defibrillator for Edward the Troll (physically played by Derek Mears. He also played Jason the 2009 Friday the 13th).

I rate this movie a 2 out of 10 stars. The two points were for Jeremy Renner.

Details:

Director: Tommy Wirkola – Also directed Dead Snow, Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead.

Rating: R This is a well-deserved rating. Keep in mind, this is not a child’s movie. Horror, graphic violence and story line, language, couple having relations.

Running time: 88 minutes - You will be thankful.

I rented this movie from the video store with my own funds. I have not been compensated for this review.