The Witches

Roald Dahl was my favorite author throughout my childhood and adolescence, and even now I still tremendously enjoy re-reading his novels, or - even better - reading them to my 8-year-old daughter. Of all the writers in the world and in history, Dahl created the most insanely imaginative fantasy worlds and the most colorfully eccentric characters. In every decade since the 1960s there has been at least one famous film adaptation of Dahl's work, and often they were helmed by some of the world's most acclaimed directors (like Nicholas Roeg, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, and now Robert Zemeckis)

"The Witches", Dahl's awesomely grim and eerie novel from 1983, already received a film version once in 1990, and - in my humble opinion - that version stood the test of time very well. Still, the skeptical author got to see it shortly before his death and didn't like it, so producer Guillermo Del Toro and director Robert Zemeckis considered it was time for a re-interpretation. The result is an overall enjoyable movie (or at least more enjoyable than what the harsh reviews around here claim), but nevertheless one with many shortcomings and tiny disappointments.

The narration of Chris Rock feels awkward and misfit from the very first minute. Although he never appears in the film, Rock's voice is supposedly the young and orphaned boy whom, together with his loving grandma, courageously confronts a whole coven of witches, and the diabolical Grand High Witch in particular, in a picturesque seaside hotel. While Octavia Spencer and the young Jahzir Bruno gave away likable performances, the frequent interruptions by Rock's irritating voice formed a nuisance to me. Furthermore, I read a lot of negative comments regarding Anna Hathaway's depiction of the Grand High Witch, but I honestly can say she's quite alright. Sure, she can't hold a candle to Anjelica Huston, who was born for the role, but I dug Hathaway's exaggeratedly nasty accent and her overacting.

The biggest default of the 2020 version, according to me, is how Dahl's vivid imaginary setting and lead characters were turned into uninspired and soulless CGI effects. Anjelica Huston's transformation into the Grand High Witch gave 9-year-old me nightmares for weeks, while there's nothing even remotely scary about her digital transformation here. Same goes for the kids turning into mice, and the legendary moment when all witches take their wigs off. These sequences are a lot less impactful and astonishing as in the 1990s version. I read somewhere that producer Guillermo Del Toro initially wanted the effects to be stop-motion. Why didn't he persist? He's the producer after all, and a classic Dahl story needs old-fashioned handicraft effects!

I enjoyed this movie. Won't win awards, but still a good remake . If you read all the negative reviews they are mostly from those who think one race or color can do abetter job and question the cast. Who cares!! Watch it, smile, enjoy and go on with your lives! Don't rate a movie lower because a character is not of the race in the original or what YOU wanted. The rest reviewers who are asking why the movie was even made? Here's the truth about those nonsense reviews, MOST of them did NOT watch the movie so their reviews are biased and inappropriate. Nothing wrong with remakes and this is a great story to remake. It's a kid's movie, but we see old angry folks sitting behind a keyboard and trashing a good story.

Is the movie, the best ever 10/10 Well, not really... Is it good? Yes it is! Is the movie better than the original( I watched the original 3 times)? No it is not,but it has a great flare and spins. It a nice refresh and a story you want to experience again. Not to mention the fact, millenials often don't want to see 30-year old movies and they would connect better. So if you are 50, and angry, it is YOU who is a problem. Young teens really enjoyed this one and the actors they like. It's as simple as that so take it easy!! It's a great story and I was delighted to see another angle of it. That is all. It was cool to see how the creators of the 2020 changed it.

PS. Anne did a great job in the movie. She is a shining star anything she does. Chris was ok in his narration, but I am not sure he was even needed.

I'm sure people will hate this movie no matter what because they love the original and I get that but it's not bad at all. My kids loved it and love the original so they actually pulled it off in my opinion. People may also find other ways or reasons to hate it (probably involves current issues politics bs etc.) but seriously it's not bad. You also have to remember these movies are kids movies based on a kids book so if your pissed that a movie from your childhood has been remade, that's sad. At least they waited 30 years to do it. The first one is a lot scarier but that's because of the awesome makeup and not cgi.

Oh Dear,

This should have been good, it needed to be good, sadly it just isn't. It's one of those films where a remake didn't seem to be necessary, but as someone that loved Roald Dahl as a child my interest was peaked.

It's inconsistent throughout, did they perhaps rush it because of Covid? The special effects look decent in parts, and woeful in others, Anne Hathaway displays personality it's fair to say, but her accent..... If anyone remembers Rentaghost, think Miss Popov, she spans countries from Ireland to Russia, it had me chuckling.

Once again, please, please try and give us something new and original, stop taking things that have already been made, and making them ten times worse. An extra point for casting the wonderful Josette Simon.

It made me want to watch Anjelica Huston.

I paid to download it, that money could have gone on something less awful, like a Donny Osmond cd.

Naff, 3/10.

In 1968, a young Hero Boy is forced to go live with his grandma (Octavia Spencer) after losing his parents in a car accident. She tells him that witches are real and they hate children. As a child, she lost her friend when a witch turned her into a chicken. She gives him a white mouse. She takes him to a seaside hotel for an escape hoping that witches would not search there since black children are rarely at the luxury hotel. Unfortunately, the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway) has gathered her followers to present a potion to turn all children into mice.

This is the second film adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's book. The 1990 adaptation stars Anjelica Huston and is a fan favorite. It's probably a fool's errand to try to do another. The only reason is to upgrade the mice with CGI and that's often a bad idea. The charm of the old animatronics is actually more timeless than CGI which ages over time. It does inject some American racial divide into the story but the movie drops that interesting take rather quickly. The one awful thing it does is to replace the greatness of Huston with a terribly weird Joker-smiling Hathaway. It is bad. There is no good reason for this movie and watching it proves that.