Bloody awesome

Rating: 6/10 (17 April 2013)

Following the trend on recreating the original fairy tales with lasts years Snow White remake with Snow White and the Huntsmen, Tommy Wirkola brings out the ugly in the Grimm tale's with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters; a horrific take on Hansel and Gretel.
Directed by Tommy Wirkola, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters takes a dark, twisted turn on the the classic candy themed house tale. Unaware that she's a witch, Bond girl Gemma Arterton playing Gretel and Hawkeye star Jeremy Renner playing Hansel, grow up becoming famed merciless bounty hunters. After their iconic encounter with the candy housed witch, the dynamic duo are approached with a case involving multiple children being abducted.
The abductions are done by an evil shape shifting witch named Muriel, played by iconic X-men star, Famke Janssen. Intending on making a potion making witches impervious to fire, Muriel, inevitably, is the reason that led the siblings mom, a powerful good witch, and their father to their deaths. The siblings end up brutally killing Muriel by decapitating her with a shovel, and end by collecting their bounty and leaving to start a new journey.
Witches brew, magical showdowns, and even the dashing Renner, the old bread trail was revamped with blood that sparked interest in following Hansel and Gretel into the forest. Wirkola intentions of emphasizing the importance of the dark humor with intense whiplashes of gore and eye gouging cinematics was no doubt achieved. This movie had all the ingredients; a dash of folklore's, a pinch of creativity and a smoldering hot pair of actors to play the part.
The dynamic duo, Renner and Arterton, deliver the classic close, love- hate sibling relationship in the medieval themed setting. Unpredictable, action star Renner does a amazing job going head on into bloody conflicts, while still presenting a sensitive, stern personality. Complementing the brawny no-plan- guy, the brains of the pair, Arterton playing the tough, attractive sister, who's tries to understand first then kill next. Arterton keeps the audience entertained with her energy, which most of the cast lacked. Transforming from a ravishing beauty to a icky old hag, Famke does a great job on making everyone miserable, both Hansel and Gretel and her league of minions.
The music was amazing. Inception sensation Hans Zimmer worked alongside with Wirkola to create a perfect dark and fantasy like theme to compliment the story. Also the Germanic scenery was purely gorgeous, the waterfall, the little cottages and the twilight-like forest.
Though the cast did a amazing on their parts, the story lacked dialogue. To fill in the fast-paced sequence with vulgarity for humor, the story still lacked engaging dialogue such as devoiding the backstories of the witches. Also the story didn't really answer much of the pairs past, why were they good at killing? What's the story on Murial? Why were there shotguns in the pre-colonial era?
The dark humor of Wirkola was excessively emphasized a little too much as well. The tedious and unnecessary use of bloodshed seemed to downgrade the whole movie. It seemed like the story was poorly staged with the repetitive use of blood and violence, it felt like a cartoon. Showcase of burnings at a stake to beheading grew less and less suspensive since it came frequently. The non-stop blood and gore and barely spoken dialogue made Sharkboy and Lavagirl seem like a scary movie.
But overall the movie was great for fans of fantasy and gore. For horror fanatics, action junkies or people who just want to have a good time, this will entertain you.