Directed by:
Tommy WirkolaScreenplay:
Tommy WirkolaCinematography:
Michael BonvillainComposer:
Atli ÖrvarssonCast:
Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Pihla Viitala, Derek Mears, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Joanna Kulig, Thomas Mann, Peter Stormare, Bjørn Sundquist (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
The film is set 15 years after the young Hansel and Gretel (Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) were abandoned by their parents in the forest and taken prisoner in a gingerbread house by a child-eating witch. The siblings managed to escape, and in the intervening years have taken advantage of their subsequent immunity to bad spells and curses to set themselves up as expert bounty hunters, becoming world-famous for their skill in tracking down and killing evildoers around the globe. The film follows the brother and sister on their latest assignment - a campaign against evil sorceress Muriel (Famke Janssen) - which they begin to realise may be their golden opportunity for revenge of a more personal nature. (Paramount Pictures AU)
(more)Videos (32)
Reviews (10)
Brutal, crazy, effective and fun small-scale movie. On the other hand, it’s such a simple movie that it doesn’t really have a deeper message. The story has zero telling value and it’s all created for one single reason – to entertain the viewer – successfully so. Which is no surprise considering it has Jeremy Renner in the lead role of Hansel who has to inject himself with insulin because the Witch used to stuff him full of candy when he was a kid and now he’s lucky to still be alive. On the other side, there’s Gemma Arterton who got incredibly hot since Prince of Persia, which is thanks to latex, but also thanks to her cool lines and the overall toughness and edginess of both Hansel and Gretel. In any case, this was the perfect entertainment for 87 minutes.
()
I already knew that Tommy Wirkola was a desperate director, and I understood from the trailer that this film is as dumb as a brick, so it's not a surprise. Fortunately, the film doesn't take itself seriously, but practically anything can be hidden under exaggeration. I forgive the film for being stupid, but I can't overlook that it's sometimes tasteless. Hansel & Gretel deserve one star from me for the cast and the animated subtitles. It's the same as The Brothers Grimm, but that film represents a completely different level of filmmaking. It's quite embarrassing that it has significantly lower ratings than this pop culture mishmash. Well, that's the price we pay for the average age of the site's users. Overall impression: 15%.
()
More like two and a half stars. On the one hand, there will be swearing at Van Helsing and The Brothers Grimm, and on the other hand, people will marvel at this gem that is considerably less imaginative and funny. And never-mind the actors. Could it be that the cheap, bloody special effects that many people gush about helped add to the great fun I'm reading about here? Or perhaps the forced coolness of the main characters, especially the once again unprecedentedly wooden Jeremy Renner? Or the parade of awkward vulgarities? It's possible... Anyway, I did smile occasionally and the action scenes had quite good swing, but the best character of the whole film was simply Edward the troll, who topped even the lovely Gemma Arterton in second place. Peter Stormare played almost the same man in the aforementioned The Brothers Grimm, and he did it better.
()
The Norwegian rookie isn't afraid of big production. Throw in some good looking actors, a few gore shots and camera finesse like the thrice as expensive and much more bloated Van Helsing and off we go. 90 minutes of non-stop fun and entertainment, or Hansel and Gretel for adults and lovers of an alternative approach to the classics. Sure, it's bullshit, but the signature and commitment of the creators is very likeable.
()
The fairytale of the Brothers Grimm is quite different, in both the good and the bad sense of the word. Hansel and Gretel is a very brisk film with a likable cast, mixing wit, action and romance, and it's watchable in the end, but it doesn't dazzle, nor does it leave anything deeper (which is to be expected, but still). Örvarsson's music reminded me terribly of Sherlock (Zimmer as executive music producer) right at the beginning, which maybe bothered me a bit, but then it fizzled out. The plot wasn't bad, but I'm sure the overall theme could have been fleshed out more. That said, the primary purpose of the film was (probably) to serve up a crazy action-packed take on a fairy tale classic that was meant to entertain, which it did. In short, an average Hollywood film that stands out from the rest perhaps only in its approach and relationship to the source materia
()
Ads