Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters

Ever wondered what happens after the "And they lived Happily Ever After" ending of most fairy tales?

Well, it seems that Hollywood producers, always on the look for material to make movies, have as of late found in fairy tales what they were looking for. Proof of that are the recent reinterpretations of  Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood with a Cinderella film announced for 2014. 

This year we had the rebellious kids, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Artenton) who after defeating the Witch of the house made of candies and cake have grown to become...witch hunters! 

I know it sounds predictable but the whole story is very predictable with little or no explanation given about some points such as how these siblings have become so exceptionally skilled at fighting or where they got that state-of-the art weaponry they use to hunt witches. Instead we find them at a point where they are already well-known in their "profession" which is rescue those children kidnapped by witches and hunt down their captors. 

This time they face their greatest challenge yet. A very powerful witch called Muriel (Fawke Jansen) is organizing an event that requires the sacrifice of twelve kids and the heart of the Grand White Witch (there are good witches, too; a few, but there are some). Muriel wants to be granted an ability that can only be obtained if everything happens the way she wants. She has tried this before unsuccessfully and somehow this desire of hers was and is connected to Hansel and Gretel in more ways than one. The resolution of the story is full of revelations though all of them can be predicted by the audience with just a little effort.

The story is truly weak (any story is weak if there are several parts that are not well explained or justified) and the acting is not of the best quality which is something that the director tries to make up by inserting lots and lots of action and also gory. Artenton's facial expressions are pretty much the same in every scene as though she relied more in her beauty than in her acting capacity and Renner, really you would expect a better performance after being Hawkeye in The Avengers  and a special agent of sorts in The Bourne Legacy. 

I liked the makeup: sure the creators used their creativity in making every witch different from one another and definitely the fighting scenes are well planned and quite entertaining. There must be something in that movie that appeals to one section of the entire movie fandom. In fact, a sequel is already in the works, one that personally I´m planning to pass out.

Three out of five for this one.