This is a sequel to the well-known story, beginning with the two siblings lost in the woods. They come across a house made of candy, eat some of it, go inside and are captured by a hideous witch who wants to cook them in her oven. Instead, they get the upper hand and fry her. Years later Hansel (Jeremy Renner of Avengers) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton of Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia) they've become well-known witch hunters, armed with an assortment of weapons. This time they come to a town where children are being taken and the local sheriff accuses a young red-headed woman of being a witch. Hansel examines her and says she doesn't have any of the marks of a witch (they become rotted!), so she's not a witch. This ticks the sheriff off--and later on tries to kill off Gretel. However, a troll named Edward shows up and rescues her, killing the lynch mob. She asks why he saved her and the only thing he says is "Trolls serve witches". There's a confrontation with the Grand Witch (Famke Janssen of X-Men, 100 Feet) responsible for the child kidnappings, as well as an entire group of repulsive witches that meet during the "blood moon". They want to become impervious to fire and need Gretel's sacrifice to make it work.
This movie is far better than I ever thought it would be--and surprisingly gory.
I like it that they treat the evil witches as if they are zombies and make them look disgusting. The movie is supposed to be in the past, but they use modern language and behave like it's taking place today, which works in the context of the film. Recommended.
This is a sequel to the well-known story, beginning with the two siblings lost in the woods. They come across a house made of candy, eat some of it, go inside and are captured by a hideous witch who wants to cook them in her oven. Instead, they get the upper hand and fry her. Years later Hansel (Jeremy Renner of Avengers) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton of Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia) they've become well-known witch hunters, armed with an assortment of weapons. This time they come to a town where children are being taken and the local sheriff accuses a young red-headed woman of being a witch. Hansel examines her and says she doesn't have any of the marks of a witch (they become rotted!), so she's not a witch. This ticks the sheriff off--and later on tries to kill off Gretel. However, a troll named Edward shows up and rescues her, killing the lynch mob. She asks why he saved her and the only thing he says is "Trolls serve witches". There's a confrontation with the Grand Witch (Famke Janssen of X-Men, 100 Feet) responsible for the child kidnappings, as well as an entire group of repulsive witches that meet during the "blood moon". They want to become impervious to fire and need Gretel's sacrifice to make it work.
