Delivering little to none pleasure, even the guilty one. Okay, maybe the guilty one.

Rating: 4/10 (3 June 2015)

Yes, Jeremy Renner can make crappy movie too. But if you come because Gemma Artenton's cleavage, as in the poster suggests, the movie will keep you quite entertained. The most notable flaw is the uncertain direction it's supposed to take, frankly it's hinged between tasteless horror action or misguided parody like a broom between a witch's crack, and neither is done that well. Also, the concept of gritty version of fairy tale characters as mercenaries is a blatant excuse of luring audiences hooked on fantasy theme, but ultimately ends up delivering little to none pleasure, even the guilty one. Okay, maybe the guilty one.
Hansel and Gretel are big kids now, traumatized and vengeful towards witches' prowl. They take arms in spite and exude pain to all the witch they greet. In a twisted of fate they run across a town in need of help, many of the children have been kidnapped. If you've seen the beginning of Van Helsing, you'll get the idea, they share about the same outfit and weapons too.
I saw it in 3D and while I knew the commitment this type of movies has for throwing stuff to your face, but I still stunned to see it here, as if the movie goes to a terrible length to hurl splinters, debris, and chunks of meat into the sanctity of your eyes. If there were a category in cinema awards for "Most Stuff Thrown Effectively to Audience", this will be a serious contender.
The actors do some adequate performance, Jeremy Renner is a solid lead, he's charismatic and brings some humor. Famke Jensen is decent as the villain, Muriel, she has a cold air about her and it fits as a demotion from Phoenix role. However, the whole material is a downright mess. There is plenty of gore, even some dark moments, yet they are passed off as semi jokes, occasionally back-to-back with another black humor. I'm not sure if a witch laughing while driving her broom in reverse before getting punched repeatedly in her face while she screams is meant to be funny
Aside from that, it has excessive profanity. I don't really mind, but it has to be done in the right freaking time. The characters just mutter them needlessly, making them awkward, more than anything. Pacing is quite puzzling as well, for most it follows a straight relatively slow pace, only to find some characters appear suddenly for convenience' sake. Few scenes are cut short or sped up in this way.
If you, for some reason, want to see Jeremy Renner goes Rambo on old ladies while traumatized innocent children watch in horror, you might as well go for the brief gratuitous shots, for Hansel and Gretel aren't good for much else.