Paramount has released a first look at the long-delayed Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, a film that was originally due out in March this year but delayed until January 2013 to maximise the international box office appeal of Jeremy Renner. In the interim, Renner has appeared in those little franchise films The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy, and his star has risen considerably as a result.
Escaping from a witch as kids, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) have a taste for witch killing. 15 years after their incident involving a gingerbread house, the siblings have evolved into bounty hunters who hunt witches for fun and profit. We can only hope that director Tommy Wirkola built a real hinger bread house for the children of the world to enjoy.
At The Reel Bits, we don’t just post trailers now, we review them too. This is Trailer Talk. Check out our thoughts after viewing the trailer below.
Trailer Talk:
In the grand tradition of mash-up films such as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, everybody’s favourite house invaders get their own adult starring roles. In many ways a trail of cinematic breadcrumbs has lead us to this moment, with fairy tales being hot properties right now. They are public domain after all. If the name Tommy Wirkola sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen the cult favourite Dead Snow, a film that can be summed up in two words: Zombie Nazis.
This trailer neatly establishes the comedy-horror vibe of the film, although at times it is treading dangerously close to Van Helsing territory in aesthetics. Even so, here the joke doesn’t seem to end with the title, and the witchy laughs-a-plenty could potentially go either way. Some of the witches are reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s work in this short trailer, and if that’s the vibe they are going for then we could be in for a candy-coloured treat.
Bottom Line? This could be the feel-good action movie of the Australian summer, due out the week before Australia Day with only Monsters Inc 3D and Anna Karenina currently challenging it. We are definitely interested in what these two can do with the material, and hope this solidifies Renner as an action hero.
Bits Rating: ★★★½
