Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters
Once upon a time (well, last Sunday, actually), I took myself to see Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters in 3D.
The film begins with a glimpse of the old story (remember the gingerbread house, with all the candy?—Right, that old story). Then we move ahead several years and the brother and sister duo have grown up to be witch hunters in an area of the world that seems downright rampant with witches.
For the most part, the siblings believe that mom and dad abandoned them, but soon learn that more witches than they could ever imagine will be coming for a ceremony around the time of the blood moon (witch talk for a total eclipse of the moon) and will reveal the truth behind the mystery of how they ended up at the house of sugar.
This is no fairy tale. The ensuing blood bath looks real and gets nasty and the 3D glasses bring the viewer right into the picture, although I’m not at all sure how these actors didn’t just laugh out loud at some of their lines—some were very corny.
The much hyped Jeremy Renner, of Hurt Locker and The Bourne Legacy, to name a few, was good as was Gemma Arterton as Gretel. Canadian Monique Ganderton played the candy witch, but it was pretty hard to figure out which witch was which as there were a plethora of them from ‘horned witch, red-headed witch, tall witch, fat and ugly witch (weren’t they all?). You get the drift—a lot of witches stealing kids, wreaking havoc, casting spells; however, I liked it. It’s not for everyone but it was relatively short and kind of funny.
By the way, here’s a little fairy tale quiz:
1. Who wrote Hansel and Gretel?
2. What was the last Walt Disney fairy tale produced before his death?
3. Who plays a princess transported from an animated world to New York City in the movie Enchanted?
4 Who plays Captain Hook in the Peter Pan tale entitled “Hook”?
5 In the Never Ending Story, what is the name of Atreyu’s horse?
See below for the answers.
I give Hansel and Gretel 3 1/2 reels because, what else are you going to do on a winter evening with nothing on TV? Just don’t eat too much candy!
And now my prediction for this year’s Oscar for Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables.
Susan Steen is a local movie buff.
susansteen1234@shaw.ca
Answers to quiz:
1 The Brothers Grimm
2 Sleeping Beauty
3 Amy Adams
4 Dustin Hoffman
5 Artax