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Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (15)

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (15)

Action, Fantasy, Horror

In this spin on the fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel are now bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world. As the fabled Blood Moon approaches, the siblings encounter a new form of evil that might hold a secret to their past.


The critical consensus

There’s the occasional reasonable joke, a very game Arterton in leather trousers, and enough gore to make even a Grimm brother shudder.

**(*)(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 24/02/2013

At best it's an intermittent assault on the senses but even that's not nearly as fun as it sounds.

**(*)(*)(*)Emma Simmonds, The List, 25/02/2013

The gore is a bore and the sweary script just isn’t funny.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 28/02/2013

A lurching misstep from the Dead Snow director.

**(*)(*)(*)Dan Jolin, Empire Online, 28/02/2013

This seems like a movie in love with itself and the cute twist of its one thin premise. It takes a fairy tale and plays it for laughs, without being remotely funny. For the most part, it’s grim rather than Grimm.

**(*)(*)(*)David Gritten, The Telegraph, 01/03/2013

Famke Janssen alone seems to be enjoying herself.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 28/02/2013

The picture moves fast and is an efficient enough action-horror, with good effects and plenty of violence, but it’s too machine-tooled and perfunctory to make you care.

**(*)(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 28/02/2013

It demonstrates the gravitational pull of terribleness that the good films heroically resist and rise above. The Oscars now seem a very, very long time ago.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 28/02/2013

The obscene language (eg "whatever you do, don't eat the fucking candy") and extreme violence, quite a lot of it directed against women, make it unsuitable for children, something recognised by a 15 certificate. Maybe it's so-called young adults the makers are after.

Philip French, The Observer, 03/03/2013

Renner and Gemma Arterton struggle valiantly with a script that mostly involves cracking hag-heads while cracking wise. With so little to work with their talents are mostly wasted, but at least they seem to be having fun, and this self-awareness (rubbish, but proudly rubbish) proves the film’s saving grace.

**(*)(*)(*)Chris Buckle, The Skinny, 06/03/2013

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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