Wow. 18% (as of 8:00 PM, January 27) on Rotten Tomatoes. Why do critics hate 'Hansel & Gretel:Witch Hunters' so much? Is it because relatively unknown Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola is seen as a 'hack' of sorts, whose only work of any renown to date is the love-it-or-hate-it Nazi Zombie movie 'Dead Snow'? The most common gripe I hear about 'Hansel & Gretel:Witch Hunters' is that it can't decide whether it's a serious horror movie or a light-hearted comedy, trying to be both and becoming neither, an R-rated mess that just doesn't know its target audience.
Come on, even their peer 'Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter' did better than 18%, and that was not a great movie by any measure. Now, I'm not saying that 'Hansel & Gretel' is high art, but it offers the same irreverent, tongue-in-cheek, bloody fun as Abe Lincoln VH and another vampire fiend who calls herself Buffy in seven seasons of quality television. And Gretel's weapon of choice is a hunting crossbow. If that's not an homage to Buffy then I don't know what is.
'Hansel & Gretel:Witch Hunters' re-imagines an alternate fantasy reality in which the Brothers Grimm siblings who ate from the house made of tasty goodies grew up and became badass witch hunter mercenaries-for-hire. Immune to the witches' powers, trained in hand-to-hand combat and equipped with an arsenal of cool 'steam-punk' era weaponry, Hansel & Gretel are 16th Century (or 'Renaissance Faire') superheroes, looking oh so sleek and cool in their black leather outfits. And of course, simply looking sleek and cool isn't enough, because they can also kick some serious witch butt. That is, until they met the grand dark witch, deliciously played by Famke Janssen (Jean Grey of the 'X-Men').
Critics might call 'Hansel & Gretel:Witch Hunters' another shameless mash-up, but I see it as 100 minutes of mindless mayhem and fun. What is wrong with that, I ask?
Grade: B+
Even the Chinese love 'Hansel & Gretel'
Even the Chinese love 'Hansel & Gretel'
No comments:
Post a Comment