The first trailer for the long delayed ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ movie starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton is now online.
Set fifteen years after their traumatic gingerbread-house incident, siblings Hansel and Gretel have become a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.
Will this go the same way as ‘Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter’ or will Renner’s star power lift it in to blockbuster territory?
Following on from the more light hearted “Mirror Mirror”, this second Snow White movie of the year steps in to darker territory as Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen employs the fearless Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track down and kill Snow White (Twilight’s Kristen Stewart) who has escaped after years of being locked in captivity by her step mother.
We all know how the fairy tale goes with Snow White being deemed the only one in the land fairer than the Evil Queen and also her only contender to the crown by the magic mirror on the wall.
The Queen needs Snow White’s heart to live on eternally but as the Huntsman finds her lost in the Dark Forest, he becomes enchanted by her innocent ways and beauty. After they meet with 8 (yes, 8) strange dwarves, together they embark on a mission to free the kingdom from the clutches of the Evil Queen once and for all.
After a slow start and an over abundance of narrative, “Snow White & The Huntsman” really picks up in the second half of the movie, mainly thanks to the introduction of some of Britain’s finest talent (including staples such as Ian McShane, Nick Frost and Eddie Marsan) who appear as the eight dwarves that befriend Snow White. The offbeat humour of Ray Winstone’s Gort gels perfectly with the wise words of Bob Hoskins’ Muir and thankfully the dwarves provide some light in a movie that for the most part is engulfed in a heavy gloom which is worlds away from Walt Disney or more recently, Julia Roberts.
Even Show White herself only shows glimpses of her tender side as her character progressively leans towards becoming a modern day Joan of Arc, a heroine who is pure but also has guts when needed.
For this alone, the casting of Kristen Stewart is a lot better than you would have expected. You wouldn’t kick her out of bed but Stewart would not necessarily be most people’s first choice to play an iconic creature of beauty such as Snow White. There’s no doubt though she has the pale skin, steely eyes and courage that enables her to mature in to the part without ever stamping true authority on it.
Sparring off with Stewart is Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, whose portrayal of the alcoholic, grieving Huntsman packs more emotion in to a character than he’s been able to display before now as the God of Thunder. In a short career so far, Hemsworth has established himself as an actor with considerable talent to match the muscle and even his Scottish accent is just about passable.
Not to be outdone by her younger co-stars, Charlize Theron’s maniacal performance as the Evil Queen bristles with menace but borders on the over theatrical on a few occasions. Her Queen is cold and hateful as Theron appears to be enjoying herself in the role, spitting out lines with equal amounts of bile and glee.
“Snow White & The Huntsman” is very much a fairy tale for the modern generation and is a far better movie than the recent “Alice In Wonderland” of which it shares the same producers. Packed with fantastic effects and stark visuals it delivers on it’s promise of being a darker, realistic take on a classic story and may even be a bit too scary for younger children. There’s not really anything that sets “Snow White” aside from the pack but it is a very solid and enjoyable addition in to the fantasy adventure genre.
7.5/10
Official Trailer:
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