Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

In this spin on the fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel are now bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world. As the fabled Blood Moon approaches, the siblings encounter a new form of evil that might hold a secret to their past.

Director:

Tommy Wirkola

Writer:

Tommy Wirkola

Stars:

Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Renner	...	Hansel
Gemma Arterton	...	Gretel
Famke Janssen	...	Muriel
Pihla Viitala	...	Mina
Derek Mears	...	Edward
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Edward (voice)
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal	...	Horned Witch
Joanna Kulig	...	Red Haired Witch
Thomas Mann	...	Ben
Peter Stormare	...	Sheriff Berringer
Bjørn Sundquist	...	Jackson
Rainer Bock	...	Mayor Engleman
Thomas Scharff	...	Father
Kathrin Kühnel	...	Adrianna
Cedric Eich	...	Young Hansel

Storyline

The siblings Hansel and Gretel are left alone in the woods by their father and captured by a dark witch in a candy house. However they kill the witch and escape from the spot. Years later, the orphans have become famous witch hunters. When eleven children go missing in a small village, the Major summons Hansel and Gretel to rescue them, and they save the red haired Mina from the local sheriff that wants to burn her accusing Mina of witchcraft. Soon they discover that the Blood Moon will approach in three days and the powerful dark witch Muriel is the responsible for the abduction of children. She intends to use the children together with a secret ingredient in a Sabbath to make the coven of witches protected against the fire. Meanwhile Hansel and Gretel disclose secrets about their parents.

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Plot Keywords:

bounty hunter | shotgun | stun gun | person on fire | cut into pieces | 

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Taglines:

Classic Tale New Twist

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong fantasy horror violence and gore, brief sexuality/nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hansel y Gretel: Cazadores de brujas

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$19,690,956 (USA) (25 January 2013)

Gross:

$55,682,070 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Gary Sanchez Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Diane Kruger, Eva Green and Noomi Rapace were considered to play Gretel, but Gemma Arterton eventually got cast.

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Goofs

When Mina is tending to Hansel's wounds next to the lake his arm changes positions between shots - from resting on his knee, then his thigh, then his knee again.

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Quotes

Hansel: [to Mina and Ben, as they approach the witch's house] Whatever you do, don't eat the fuckin' candy.

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Connections

Referenced in Conversations with Hollywood: Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy (2011)

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

It's a little strange why this film wasn't given advanced press previews in the US, and for territories like ours there was a review embargo to comply with, signalling the lack of confidence the filmmakers and distributors have on this film update of the Hansel and Gretel storyline. Perhaps they're taking a leaf out of recent updates to fairy tales such as the two Snow White movies, and Red Riding Hood, that they want to be a bit deaf to criticisms, and to allow audiences to judge instead. But Hansel and Gretel as witch hunters followed the mold of Blade, and proved to be quite the mass market entertainer, with no pretences in wanting to be more.

Written and directed by Norwegian Tommy Wirkola, this story had all the right ingredients for the kind of film it wanted to be, taking the familiar folk lore, and putting a creative, not necessarily new, spin on it. We see how the two kids get brought out to the woods, only this time there isn't a trail of crumbs to follow home. The iconic house of bread and sweets, and the wicked witch who wants to fatten Hansel as food later on are all included, as do their defeat of the witch by burning her alive in the stove. This forms the prologue, and the What If scenario that Hansel and Gretel were to build on their initial success, and form a career out of hunting, and destroying witches anywhere, bounty hunter style.

As you would already have seen in the trailer, this is but one of their adventures shown in helping a village deal with the menace of the witch Muriel (Famke Janssen), who together with her posse of like-minded witches have kidnapped children in preparation of a ritual to be performed under the blood moon. And there's no other better for the job than for Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton), engaged by the mayor thanks to the widespread news of their successful witch hunting exploits played over the opening credits. The rest of the story is nothing but set action piece after set action piece, paced frantically without any pause longer than necessary, with a story that ties it all in to their origins, and going full circle.

clocking in at just under 90 minutes, the movie has two surprise acts and characters best kept under wraps, one to reverse the mantra that the witch hunters adopt to their methods, and the other a fine character introduced that shed clues to their origin story. Jeremy Renner continues in his sharing of the limelight in roles he had chosen of late, preferring to be the team player from the Impossible Mission Force to the Avengers, and continues as one half of the brother-sister team. Gemma Arterton is perhaps best known for her role as the Bond girl in Quantum of Solace, with her dramatic roles having never made it here. And having another Bond girl in Famke Janssen in yet another villainous role also helped, although every character in this film is pretty one dimensional.

But this is an action-adventure taking a well known fairy tale and giving it a license to thrill with blood and gore. While most of the effects are CG laden, it doesn't flinch from wanting to showcase burning at the stakes and various forms of dismemberment and beheadings that increases its body count in very gory terms. It's a story about witch hunting in a fantasy setting, and it exploits this setting perfectly. A definite recommend for any action junkie.