Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters Directed by: Tommy Wirkola Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: January 11, 2013
TRAILER SCORE: 2/10
Thoughts by TSR: Once upon a time there was an actor who did really fine work in some under-the-radar films. Finally he broke out and received back-to-back Oscar nominations! The sky was the limit! And then something happened. Instead of continuing down this path, he got stuck in a franchise film rut. Jeremy Renner has continued to do solid work in this types of films, but this abysmal trailer for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters makes me fear that it might be the one that loses me. Renner seems to recognize the sort of project this is, but that doesn’t excuse the decision to waste time doing it.
There is just nothing redeeming here. “Generic” is the word that comes to mind, yet the thing carries itself as if it’s totally awesome and badass. That sort of unfounded swagger could almost be commendable, but in reality it only makes the abundance of leather, boring action, and unimpressive effects all the more wretched. It’s as if it wants to be the coolest revisionist fairy tale in all the land, so in order to accomplish that it threw a bunch of “awesome” stuff – anachronistic weapons, dude! – in a blender and mixed it up. The results? Not promising. January has started to become a slightly more interesting time for new releases – we got Haywire and The Grey this year – but this trailer makes Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters look like the usual January trash.