Fairy tales and fables have always been told with great
aplomb around the world. They have been passed on from generation to generation
by word of mouth but have also been written down in text by many people who
aimed to capture their essence and preserve it for many more generations to
come. It is very rare that anyone would attempt to change the story of a
classic fairy tale but it is attempted every once in a while. Hansel &
Gretel: Witch Hunters is a 2013 film by Tommy Wirkola which has a new take on
the story of the siblings Hansel and Gretel.
In a small German tow called Augsburg, the disappearances of
children has caused a major panic as it is revealed that witches have been
kidnapping them. Every woman is now under scrutiny of the ignorant sheriff
while the mayor has resorted to hire a sibling duo known for hunting witches;
Hansel and Gretel. The brother and sister were themselves victims of a kidnapping
by a witch in their youth but managed to escape by burning her alive. Now, as
adults, they travel from one village to another with a vow to kill every witch
they can. They are somehow impervious to the black magic of witches which makes
them the ideal bounty hunters for the town of Augsburg as they attempt to find
and foil the witches who are wrecking havoc in the small town.
While it is laudable that writer and director Tommy Wirkola
has attempted to take on a classic fairy tale and continue it with his own
plotline, the film has many shortcomings that leave it less credible than would
have been hoped for when making the movie. The back-story that Wirkola creates
to establish his characters and their abilities has never been written of
before in the classic fairy tale. The addition of his own ideas in the existent
plotline is questionable and at the most can be reasoned with artistic license.
On the other hand, the show of technology in Hansel and Gretel’s weaponry
cannot be reasoned in a period film of the medieval times. Hansel’s diabetes in
the film as a result of eating too much candy in the classic fairy tale is a
nice touch, however the inconsistency of his diabetic attacks and need for
insulin on cue during a battle begs for reason as to why the need did not arise
in a previous scene when it was established that he was hanging unconscious
from a tree for a whole night without administering any insulin then.
There are far too many shortcomings in the film to be
ignored. It is filled with action sequences at regular intervals but the story
that takes off from the classic Hansel and Gretel tale adds no particular value
to it nor does it standout by itself as a film.
No comments:
Post a Comment