Cinefantastique Online

Yup, It's That Pretty: Jeremy Renner (left) in a characteristic action sequence from HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

It’s a childhood classic, seen in a whole new light. For clarification’s sake, CFL bulbs are whole new lights, too, but you don’t see anyone buying tickets to watch them. Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are the titular brother and sister team in HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, all growed up and battling Famke Janssen as a super-witch with a plan to alter the balance of power between automatic crossbow-wielding siblings and the practitioners of dark magic. All-in-all, a fun idea, but unfortunately, in the hands of director Tommy Wirkola, execution does not rise up to what’s on the page. Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons take a look at this latest attempt to revise and update classic literature, and discuss what went wrong.

Also: What’s coming to theaters next week.

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