‘Gretel and Hansel’ remake disappoints

A new take on Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s fairytale, 'Hansel and Gretel,' came to theaters Jan. 31.

The movie, titled 'Gretel and Hansel,' took a turn from the original story as the female character, Gretel (Sophia Lillis), was the lead in this new adaptation.

As the tale goes, Gretel and her younger brother, Hansel (Samuel Leakey), were forced out of their house by their mother. The sibling traveled through the woods, hungry and cold, until stumbling upon a house that was filled with delicious foods. Although this scene was present in the book, the adaptation included additional scenes that were not in the book, which at times made the storyline difficult to follow.

Noah Cruz, a Coastal Carolina University student, said, “’Gretel and Hansel’ was a very slow-paced movie. It tried to be artistic and be something more than the well-known fairytale, but [they] didn’t quite give you much to work with.”

Apart from the plot, this film should have been marketed to be of the thriller genre, rather than horror. There were suspenseful scenes, but nothing that seemed scary.

“Filled with creepy occultism, Gretel and Hansel is made of gingerbread: Alluring to look at, but structurally and morally hollow,” said Paul Asay, a movie critic for Plugged In.

I wouldn’t recommend this film it to someone unless they are interested in strange, unusual films.

“’Gretel and Hansel’ is not an ‘entertaining film,’ though it is certainly an interesting, mesmerizing one,” said Lynetta Hale, online reviewer.

Through the years, there have been many remakes of the original fairytale. The first film came out in 1932 titled “Babes in the Woods.” It was a cartoon featuring two kids, elves and children who had been turned into animals. Since then, there have been versions about killers, witch hunters and monsters.

This will likely not be the last remake of the famous Grimms’ story, but hopefully the next one will be more memorable.