Hänsel und Gretel: Hexenjäger (2013)

Hansel & Gretel are 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, Peter Stormare

1 win & 4 nominations.

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 Mayor 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:

hansel and gretel | bounty hunter | death of loved one | brother sister team | supernatural power | 

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Taglines:

Revenge is sweeter than candy.

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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:

Hänsel und Gretel: Hexenjäger

Filming Locations:

Sächsische Schweiz, Saxony, 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), MTV Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 98 min (Unrated Cut)

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hansel is diabetic, as a result of his experience in the gingerbread house as a child. In the original script, Gretel was also supposed to have an eating disorder, as a result of the same trauma, but this was not included in the movie.

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Goofs

When Hansel and Gretel are in front of the candy house, he eats colorful candy and she eats the white icicle. However when they go inside both of their mouths are colored.

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Quotes

Hansel: Who the fuck is Edward?

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Crazy Credits

The text of the newspaper clippings used in the opening credits is from Alexander Roberts' 1616 "A Treatise on Witchcraft". The same piece of text is used twice for different headlines. The repeated excerpt starts 'and of these in day of executions which she is no wise would condiscend'.

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Connections

Featured in Half in the Bag: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)

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Soundtracks

Merrie England (D)
Written by Robert (Bob) John Foster
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

Good straight-forward entertainment packed with action.

It is a pretty straight-forward action flick. With the short runtime of 1 hour and 28 minutes, you can expect this to move briskly and to be packed with a lot of action.

The story: The movie starts with the young Hansel and Gretel losing their parents. They are shortly picked by a witch to be food. They manage to escape and burn the witch alive and that's how they become witch hunter. Cue to the opening credit. The next scene shows them saving an innocent woman whom is accused of being a witch. And from there, the action keeps going. There are some slight twists about the innocent woman and Hansel and Gretel's parents. Other than that, it is purely straight-forward for a good thing. The action scenes are not bad but they are more gritty than fantastical. Music wise is quite alright with Han Zimmer acting as the music supervisor.

3D: It is okay. As many of the scenes take place at night, the 3D effect dampens. It becomes more like harder to see. But when it comes to explosions, blood splatters and action, it is gimmicky with objects flying to your face. Other than that, the 3D is not really recommended unless you have some spare money.

Overall: It is not bad for the month of January. Sure, there is a great potential that the movie never reach but Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters won't disappoint if you want a good entertainment packed with action. Next fairy tale movie is Jack the Giant Slayer in Feb.