Ummmmm...Huh?
In all honesty, I'm all for movie adaptions on fairytales and fables but now things are just getting a little out of control. In 2012 and now in the beginning of 2013 the trend now seems to be superhero movies and adaptions of classic fairytales which one could argue run a fine line of being similar. However the recent string of fairytale adaptions i.e. Red Riding Hood, Mirror Mirror, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Beastly have all been really terrible adaptions on material that could haved been RE-TOLD, as these stories always are, through a unique vision. However studios just seem to want to get the hottest young star at the moment, put together the simplest story possible, make sure the main male lead takes his shirt off and...."yea let's post convert in 3D".
Originality gone.
But let's get back to this "fairy-fail". The pitch for this movie is that Hansel and Gretel, who after killing the evil witch that tried to kill and eat them, now have a taste for blood and become witch hunters. Jeremy Renner stars as Hansel who as an actor has this swagger about him that makes even his most minor character very memorable. I look forward to his return as Hawkeye in the Marvel universe and The Avengers 2 in 2015. I don't see this being that much of a breakout role for him, his roles in The Town the most recent Mission Impossible are fair better game. Gemma Arterton who plays his sister Gretel on the other hand I'm not a big fan of, she's always cast as these very weak and dainty princesses and annoying damsels and she's just terrible at them! It looks like this movie shows her as the more aggressive of the sibling pair, so it might be interesting to see what she can do with this "ballsy" female character.The supporting cast include character Peter Stormare whose been in movies like Bad Boys 2, Jurassic Park 2, and Minority Report. He also played a key inmate in the prison drama Prison Break on Fox. Famke Janssen rounds out the supporting cast, she is Jean Grey in the X-Men movies and has also been in the James Bond movie Goldeneye, and the Liam Nesson vehicle Taken.
The trailer itself looks very action packed and with the inclusion of 3D those close ups of guns cocking and shooting will most definitely wear-out their welcome. With not a lot of story, a guarantee of witches being killed and some present day one liners, I feel like this movie will just land flat. This material and any fairy material is always ripe for a modern day take and its very disappointing that the opportunity to take the characters and dark themes of these stories somewhere new and unique has been passed up for "turn off your brain" movie with absolutely no substance.
My suggestion is get a better taste of revisionist fairytale, tales with Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrnith and Bill Willingham's graphic novel series Fables.
Leave this movie alone, but if you really have to see it, do a matinee. Please, do a matinee
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters begin the hunt on January 25th, 2013
Dueces!
StuntmanBob
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