Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Tagline: Classic tale, new twist.
Here’s an origin story with a twist: Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) of “trail of breadcrumbs” fame survived their hellish childhood experience and grew up to become vigilantes, with a passion for retribution against the evil witches of the world. If the Brothers Grimm were still alive, they totally would have gotten the screenwriting gig.
Instead, director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) shares screenwriting credit along with Dante Harper as the fairy-tale figures must confront an evil even worse than witches: their past.
There isn’t much in the way of critical opinion to guide us from here on in. Movie Nation will commit to writing that it’s “a silly mashup of horror and hilarity produced by Will Ferrell’s team, and starring the guy carrying on The Bourne Legacy and the accomplished former Bond babe.” That’s January movies for you, folks: plenty of star names, barely any reviews.
MORE: Why Studio Kitsch Like Hansel & Gretel Tends to Be So Bad It’s…Awful