Well, not every Jeremy Renner franchise can work out like gangbusters, can it? Already part of The Avengers, Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, and The Bourne Legacy, Renner looks to have gone to the well one too many times in the first trailer for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Dead Snow's Tommy Wirkola.
As you probably figured out from the on-the-nose title, the film expects us to take seriously that those two witch-killing brats from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale grew up, found an armory of futuristic weapons, and set out on a path of slaughtering those who ride brooms for a living. Better hope they never find Hogwarts. Renner and Gemma Arterton look downright silly in their ridiculous outfits, and it's simply impossible to buy them as hardened warriors with names like Hansel and Gretel. All I envision are little kids in overalls eating gingerbread cookies. The special effects are sketchy at best, and neither star appears to be having very much fun. No wonder Paramount kept kicking the film around the schedule before finally plunking it down in the January wasteland.
It's always possible this could turn out to be great, and I sincerely hope it does. Renner and Arterton are usually very good, and the supporting cast is pretty good with Famke Janssen, Thomas Mann, Peter Stormare, and our girl Zoe Bell in a tiny role. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters will cast its spell on January 11th 2013....
