Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) - Wirkola arrives in Tinseltown with a silly turkey

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Two attractive stars in leathery garbs carrying over-sized weapons adorn this poster for Tommy Wirkola's Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

As adults, Hansel & Gretel have become professional witch hunters, who now happen upon an especially powerful witch, who has connections to their shared lost childhood and a troll by the name Edward.

 

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is written and directed by Tommy Wirkola (Kill Buljo: The Movie (2007)), inspired by the classic Grimm brothers fairytale, published in 1812.

It is a completely ludicrous film without any ambition to present us with any kind of plausible reality. Everything is kept in a wholly ridiculous tone, which might have worked, if it had been two comedians portraying the title siblings, (the film is co-produced by funny-men Adam McKay and Will Ferrell of Gary Sanchez Productions), but alas, we are not treated to such foresight here. 

Wirkola's grotesque film can be admired some for taking tackiness and bad taste to new heights. The troll is fun, but otherwise the uncharismatic attempts at acting in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters are jarring, and the film is told in an eternally droning set piece style, in which the dull score keeps informing us that the scenes we are watching are supposed to be dramatic and thrilling. Aye aye, Mr. composer, sir. - It doesn't work like that.

 

Related posts:

Tommy Wirkola: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Dead Snow/Død Snø (2009) or, Nazis Awake!

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 226.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.52 times its cost)

[Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters premiered 17 January (Russia) and runs 88 minutes. Wirkola sold his pitch soon after screening his Norwegian Nazi zombie horror comedy Dead Snow (2009) at the Sundance Film Festival. Shooting took place from March - June 2011 in Germany, including in Berlin, with a later additional shoot in California. The studio postponed the release, apparently to convert it to 3D and to capitalize on co-star Jeremy Renner's (The Town (2010)) rising action franchise fame. The film opened #1 to a 19.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for another 2 weekends (#2-#5), grossing 55.7 mil. $ (24.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 22.7 mil. $ (10 %) and Russia with 18.9 mil. $ (8.4 %). Though there were talks of a sequel, which Wirkola has written a script for, it has not materialized. Wirkola returned with Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014). Renner returned in The Immigrant (2013); Gemma Arterton (Tamara Drewe (2010)) in Runner Runner (2013). Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is rotten at 16 % with a 4.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters?

Taken 2 (2012) - Neeson's in trouble in Istanbul in dull sequel

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Liam Neeson is back at odds with some bad guys in Olivier Megaton's Taken 2

 

Our patriarchal hero of the first Taken (2008) movie brings his sad ex-wife and daughter with him to Istanbul, Turkey, where he is soon forced to face that his old enemies still are out to get him.

 

Taken 2 begins alright, even though Famke Janssen (X-Men 2 (2003)) is not a very warm or exciting actress in this type of film. Liam Neeson (Les Misérables (1998)) struggles bravely with the hoodlums, but then the film seems to get stuck right there up until it ends. - The action scenes are too monotonous with countless sequences through narrow streets and bountiful fist fights.

Taken 2 is written by Robert Mark Kamen (Lethal Weapon  3 (1992)) and Luc Besson (Bandidas (2006)) and directed by Olivier Megaton (Colombiana (2011)). Its main problem is that it's a dull sequel to an effective original film.

Listen to the main theme of the movie here

Cost: 43-45 mil. $

Box office: 376.1 mil. $

= Huge hit

[Taken 2 premiered September 7 (France's Deauville American Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. The budget for the film is double that of the first film (22 mil. $), which was proportionally commercially more successful (226.8 mil. $). Filming took place from October 2011 - January 2012 in Istanbul, including the Grand Bazaar, France and in in LA. The film opened #1 with a 49.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another week and spent a total of 5 weeks in the top 5, grossing 139.8 mil. $ (37.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 37.8 mil. $ (10.1 %) and France with 24.4 mil. $ (6.5 %). The film sold more than 3.8 mil. DVDs and Blu-rays in North America, accruing more than 64 mil. $ more there. Taken 2 is rotten at 21 % with a 4.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Taken 2?