History Film / HanselAndGretelWitchHunters

%%* ShapeShifterGuiltTrip: See WoundedGazelleGambit.

* VillainsWantMercy: Muriel attempts to beg Hansel for her life when he is in the middle of unleashing an UnstoppableRage RoaringRampageOfRevenge on her for killing his LoveInterest Mina. [[CaptainObvious Needless to say, it doesn't work.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Hansel and Gretel's mother is nothing like how she is portrayed in the fairy tale. [[spoiler: In the movie, she is actually a White Witch (a good witch) and her reason for abandoning her children is to protect them from an angry mob]].

** Hansel and Gretel have no magical powers other than their immunity to witch magic [[spoiler:despite being the children of a White Witch themselves]], but are very skilled at dispatching witches using conventional weapons and plenty of cunning. The latter makes them uniquely qualified to fight the the witches as the witches can't control or curse them. [[spoiler:Gretel actually ''does'' have magi;, she just didn't know about it [[FightsLikeANormal and therefore never used it]]. She does pick up Muriel's wand at the end of the film, possibly hinting that she will begin practicing.]]

Held fifteen years after the classic tale, Hansel and Gretel have grown into vengeful bounty hunters dedicated to exterminating witches of any kind. When the Mayor of Augsburg, Germany recruits them to rid the town and nearby forests of an evil sorceress -- who is planning to sacrifice many local children at the witches' gathering during the upcoming 'Blood Moon' in two days' time -- the siblings fight to stop the witches, discovering a strange conspiracy along the way.

** [[spoiler:Mina]], when she [[spoiler:uses the holy Gatling gun]], effectively killing more witches in about thirty seconds than everyone else in the movie combined.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: While a witch's candy might be cursed to cause anyone who eats it to die from "sugar sickness" if they miss an injection (of presumably insulin), you can't get insulin-dependent diabetes from eating too much mundane, non-enchanted sugar unless you gain a lot of weight, like two hundred pounds, and even if you could, a regular diabetic can go for several days without insulin.

* AscendedFanboy: In-universe. Benjamin starts as a fan of Hansel and Gretel and collected all their newspaper articles, has a lot of witch data and his dream is to be a witch hunter like them. He gets his chance to help.

"IHaveManyNames...none of which you're ''worthy'' of pronouncing..."

** Hansel and Gretel have no magical powers other than their immunity to witch magic [[spoiler:despite being the children of a White Witch themselves]], but are very skilled at dispatching witches using conventional weapons and plenty of cunning. The latter makes them uniquely qualified to fight the the witches as the witches can't control or curse them. [[spoiler:Gretel actually ''does'' have magic, she just didn't know about it [[FightsLikeANormal and therefore never used it]]. She does pick up Muriel's wand at the end of the film, possibly hinting that she will begin practicing.]]

* BeingGoodSucks: Feel sorry for the White Witches, given that they are not allowed to hurt humans [[spoiler:even when they're being burned to death]] and while they can use their magic to fight Black Witches, they're much better with non-offensive spells.

* DiseaseByAnyOtherName: Hansel is described as having "sugar sickness" from his time imprisoned in the witch's gingerbread house. To the audience it is obvious he is talking about insulin-dependent a.k.a. Type I diabetes.

* TheDreaded: [[spoiler:The reason Muriel just didn't outright assault Hansel and Gretel's home and forcefully take Gretel then and there was that she was afraid of their mother, Adrianna, the grand white witch. She took advantage of the fact that Adrianna would not harm humans, spreading rumors of her being a witch to the villagers so they would get Adrianna out of the way and leave Gretel vulnerable.]]

* GatlingGood: A [[spoiler:White Witch blessed]] Gatling gun, to be precise.

* HealingHands: [[spoiler:An ability of Mina. Likely Adrianna had it too. And Gretel if she starts practicing the craft.]]

* HeroesWantRedheads: Mina, a redhead is the LoveInterest of Hansel, one of the titular heroes.

* HotWitch: Only Grand Black Witches are capable of temporarily assuming this. [[spoiler: White witches, however, can look perfectly human. Mina is attractive and so was the siblings' mother Adrianna. Also Gretel is stunning.]]

** Besides the automatic crossbow and Gatling gun seen in the trailers and commercials, Gretel uses a pair of tri-barrelled Gatling pistols in the end credits.

* PunchClockVillain: Edward the troll, who only works for Muriel's coven because "trolls serve witches". Given the chance, [[spoiler:he gladly betrays them to serve Gretel.]]

** Happens several times in the movie, the first time at the "burn the witch" scene with Sheriff Berring. Hansel slings his {{BFG}} over his shoulder and casually flags one of the Sheriff's mooks. Of course, that might not have been accidental.

* BloodSpatteredInnocents: The patrons of the tavern when that unfortunate tracker explodes into LudicrousGibs. Hansel knows what's coming, and moves Benjamin in front of him.

** At least largely minus it.

''Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters'' is a 2013 action adventure film based on the [[Literature/HanselAndGretel classic fairy tale]] by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm. Starring Creator/JeremyRenner, Creator/GemmaArterton, Creator/PeterStormare, and Creator/FamkeJanssen. And written and directed by Tommy Wirkola, the director of Film/DeadSnow.

** But the scene that best demonstrates the twin's love of this trope is when [[spoiler:Mina]] offers to enchant some weapons with anti-witch spells, and Hansel responds by producing a large cart full of heavy weaponry.

* {{Irony}}: The Sheriff runs around accusing multiple innocent women of being witches. [[spoiler:Turns out he didn't realize it, but he was ''right every time''. They were just benevolent White Witches instead of evil Black Witches.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Hansel and Gretel's mother is nothing like how she is depicted in the fairy tale. [[spoiler: In the movie, she is actually a White Witch (a good witch) and her reason for abandoning her children is to protect them from an angry mob]].

!! The film provides examples of:

-->'''Gretel:'' Let the girl go, ''or I'll blow your Sheriff's brains all over these fucking hillbillies.''

* DamselInDistress: Mina when she was about to be executed by the misguided townspeople. Gretel is briefly captured by the Sheriff's men and then by the witches.

* DiseaseByAnyOtherName: Hansel is described as having "sugar sickness" from his time imprisoned in the witch's gingerbread house. To the audience it is obvious he is talking about insulin-dependent aka Type I diabetes.

* EvilGloating: Muriel. So, so much. Also the Sheriff when he and his men have [[spoiler:captured Gretel]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Gretel wonders why Edward saved her, given that trolls serve witches. [[spoiler: It turns out that Gretel herself is the daughter of a Great White Witch.]]

* GratuitousGerman: Completely averted, which is odd considering the move takes place in Germany. Doubly so when some of the actors are German, but speak with American accents. The TranslationConvention might be in effect.

* HarmfulToMinors: Hansel and Gretel were exposed to the evil of the gingerbread witch and it caused them to become witch hunters. The children kidnapped by Muriel and the rest of the witches seem quite traumatized. Also the boy who Muriel forces to shoot his own mother. He practically breaks down.
* HealingHands: [[spoiler: An ability of Mina. Likely Adrianna had it too. And Gretel if she starts practicing the craft.]]

* HumbleBrag: Hansel asks Ben if he has ever shot a gun, Ben kind of quietly remarks that he won a shooting contest at the county fair...three times, Hansel just smiles and helps him up onto his horse.

* {{Irony}}: The Sheriff runs around accusing multiple innocent women of being witches. [[spoiler: Turns out he didn't realize it, but he was ''right every time''. They were just benevolent White Witches instead of evil Black Witches.]]

* KnightTemplar: The Sheriff and his cronies want to protect the town from witches and thieves, but end up causing as much damage as the witches themselves, and eventually [[spoiler: beat Gretel severely, before Edward stomps in to save the day.]]

* LudicrousGibs: Everywhere but one of the trackers exploding after being forced to eat worms takes the cake.

* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: In this setting, witches have the magic and the villagers have the tech in the form of rifles and pistols being common. Magic has the huge upper hand against technology, since witches have magical shields which deflect bullets, to the point that swinging a shovel at a witch is far more effective than using a standard gun on her. Even the more advanced tech used by Hansel and Gretel doesn't do that much except to help lead a witch to a place where the siblings can beat on her in melee. It's only when their guns were enchanted that they became a real threat to the witches (and even there Muriel soaked four shots without any ill-effects later).
* MagicWand: Used copiously by witches. [[spoiler: Both Black Witches and White Witches. The ones of the evil witches tend to look sinister. Mina's is rather lovely and nature inspired.]]

* MeaningfulName: Mina means 'protection'. [[spoiler: She blesses the weapons that the hero team use on the witch sabbath.]] Benjamin means 'son of the right hand'. Edward means 'guard'. Gretel is a German version of Margaret which is associated with pearls and the color white. Hansel is the odd one out, as his name is a German diminutive of John, although John or Hans is one of the standard "hero" names in fairy tales.

* MsFanservice: While Mina had a brief nude scene by the healing pond, Gretel fills up this role since she spends the entire movie in a very form-hugging corset and pants.

* NotBad: After Muriel sarcastically asks [[spoiler: Mina]] if she's going to hit her with a love spell, she blasts a bolt of energy at her, which hits a tree next to her. Muriel says this.

* OffWithHisHead: Another way of killing witches. Favored by Hansel and Gretel. [[spoiler: Muriel suffers this.]]

* OneGenderRace: Apparently there are no male witches. [[spoiler: From the children of the Grand White Witch Adrianna, only Gretel is referred as a witch.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: In the beginning of the film, Hansel and Gretel's father leaves them in the woods. [[spoiler: However, it is later revealed that [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou both their parents needed to in order to save them from a mob of villagers]], who most likely would have killed them for being children of a witch (though the good kind of witch).]]

* {{Pride}}: [[spoiler: According to Muriel, the reason why Adrianna chose not to run for it when the mob came for her.]]

* PunchClockVillain: Edward the troll, who only works for Muriel's coven because 'trolls serve witches'. Given the chance, [[spoiler: he gladly betrays them to serve Gretel.]]

* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: Muriel's death is very drawn-out and gruesome, including being decapitated with a shovel.]]

** Happens several times in the movie, the first time at the 'burn the witch' scene with Sheriff Berring. Hansel slings his {{BFG}} over his shoulder and casually flags one of the Sheriff's mooks. Of course, that might not have been accidental.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Muriel reveals to Hansel and Gretel that their mother, Adrianna, was a benevolent white witch and that the reason why they are immune to black magic is due to being blessed by their mother with a spell of protection as children. Muriel needed the heart of a white witch as the final ingredient in the feast of the Blood Moon ritual, in order to make her and the rest of the black witches immune to fire. Adrianna was far too strong in the craft for them to overpower, so Muriel intended to have Gretel's heart instead. Muriel then spread rumours of Adrianna being a witch, causing the villagers to storm their home and burn her alive (not to mention hanging their father when he ran in to try and save her). However, their father was able to lead them into the forest and leave them there to protect them from the villagers.]]
* RazorFloss: [[spoiler: Hansel makes a web of blessed wires that slice through several fast-flying witches.]]

* RecklessSidekick: Averted quite strongly by the sidekick and the heroes. When fanboy Benjamin gushingly introduced himself, Gretel was actually fairly polite to him and somewhat appreciative of his hero-worship, and actually a bit impressed about all the research he did on witches and them. Hansel is more irritated, and both are a little creeped out. When Ben got his chance to get a sidekick role, he actually did what he was told -- to hide and stand guard for a few hours, leading to a successful ambush.

* SeenItAll: There's not much that happens in the movie which fazes the siblings, up to and including a man [[spoiler: exploding]] in the middle of talking to them. [[spoiler:Realizing that there are [[GoodCounterpart White Witches]] and that they were born from one itself. DidntSeeThatComing.]]
* ShapeShifterGuiltTrip: See WoundedGazelleGambit.

* ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler: Ben can't catch a break, can he?]]
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Hansel's WeaponOfChoice. Also Jackson.
-->'''Gretel:''' Are you a good shot?\\
'''Jackson:''' No. [Gretel gives him a look] That's why I use a shotgun.
* ShovelStrike: Muriel uses a shovel in her final fight. [[spoiler:The twins eventually decapitate her with it.]]

** Hansel and Gretel's mother resembles [[Film/SleepyHollow Ichabod Crane's]]: slightly EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette with long hair and a blue dress. [[spoiler: both were (or implied to be) white witches who loved their children but got killed by witch hunters.]]

** One of the witches at the sabbath has a giant, beard-like tumor similar to [[Film/TheHobbit The Great Goblin]]. Another has a hairstyle like [[DieAntwoord Yo-Landi Vi$$ar]].A third is dressed exactly like the Queen of Hearts in Tim Burton's Alice.

-->'''Hansel''': We learned a couple of things while we were trapped in that house. One, [[SchmuckBait never walk in to a house made of candy]]. And two, if you're gonna kill a witch, [[KillItWithFire set her ass on fire.]]
* SquishyWizard: played straight with white witches [[spoiler: except Gretel]], but completely averted with the standard witch.

* StupidGood: [[spoiler: Adrianna, a Grand White Witch,]] basically ''allows'' the townsfolk to kill her. [[spoiler: This is a being so powerful that an entire covenant of evil witches cannot hope to take her by force. It's one thing never using your magic to harm humans on principle, but it's another thing entirely to surrender to being burned at the stake. There's no indication her magical prowess couldn't have allowed an escape without hurting anyone. Instead she's brutally murdered, her husband is hanged soon after and her children are left orphans at the mercy of witches.]] This plays completely into Muriel's hands.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: White Witches really get hit with this trope. Adrianna and Mina both end up dying. The surviving White Witch is more of an AntiHero.]]

* TrueBlueFemininity: Adrianna in flashbacks. [[spoiler: A lovely and somewhat queenly blue dress is what she is wearing when the mob comes for her.]]

* UnstoppableRage: When [[spoiler: Muriel kills Mina]], Hansel's subsequent assault is best described as this, culminating in him [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown choking her with a chain and punching her body repeatedly while screaming in fury]].

* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Subverted. [[spoiler: At the end, Hansel narrates how even though revenge won't change the past or bring their parents back, it still feels pretty damn good.]]

* VillainsWantMercy: Muriel attempts to beg Hansel for her life when he is in the middle of unleashing an UnstoppableRage RoaringRampageOfRevenge on her for killing his LoveInterest Mina. [[CaptainObvious Needless to say, it didn't work.]]
* VisualPun: One witch at the sabbath is dressed like a stereotypical WitchDoctor; another is [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe half the witch she used to be]]. The desert-dwelling witch in the epilogue is a ''sand-witch''.

* WhamLine:
** [[spoiler: "TROLLS. SERVE. WITCHES."]] Not that Gretel flickers an eyelid.
** More like her eyes ''slightly'' widen. She's a rather stoic lady.

* WitchSpecies: [[spoiler: The daughter of a white witch is automatically a white witch herself, whether she uses magic or not. Additionally, it seems that power is inherited as well; Gretel doesn't practice witchcraft (as of yet) and didn't even know she ''was'' a witch until halfway through the film, but simply being the daughter of a Grand White Witch -- the most powerful type of witch there is -- is enough to qualify ''her'' as one, as well]].
* WouldHitAGirl: The sheriff and his cronies regarding Gretel, and Hansel regarding pretty much every witch in existence.

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Hansel and Gretel near the end ("[[PrecisionFStrike You gotta be fucking kidding me]]"), when they [[spoiler: come across the [[WhereItAllBegan Gingerbread House from when they were kids]]]].

* WomanInBlack: Wicked Witches tend to wear black. Muriel in particular rocks a lot of black. In reverse, [[spoiler: 2 out of the 3 White Witches we see wear [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine light]] [[TrueBlueFemininity colors]]. The last is more of an Anti-Heroine]]

* ActionGirl: Gretel. [[spoiler:Mina]], when she [[spoiler:uses the holy Gatling gun]], effectively killing more witches in about thirty seconds than everyone else in the movie combined.

* AntiMagic: Hansel and Gretel are immune to (directly applied) witchcraft. [[spoiler:Being children of a Grand White Witch who had the foresight to lay protection on them has its perks.]]
** Note the witches are generally pretty clever about bypassing it via physical or indirect attacks though, such as when Muriel telekinetically throws logs at Hansel.

--> [''as the mercenary crosses himself at her approach''] "Don't bother. Even your God knows better..."
--> "IHaveManyNames...none of which you're ''worthy'' of pronouncing..."
* BadassInDistress: Gretel, three times!

* BadassNormal: Hansel and Gretel have no magical powers [[spoiler:despite being the children of a White Witch themselves]] but are very skilled at dispatching witches using conventional weapons and plenty of cunning.
** AntiMagic: However, they ''are'' immune to black magic, which makes them uniquely qualified to fight the the witches as the witches can't control or curse them. [[spoiler:And Gretel ''does'' have magic. She just was totally unaware of it, [[FightsLikeANormal and therefore never used it]]. She does pick up Muriel's wand at the end of the film, possibly hinting that she will begin practicing.]]

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. Hansel rightly points out that an evil witch cannot really hide their true, hideous nature as evidence that Mina isn't a witch. But Grand Black Witches can briefly hide themselves. Once she starts using magic however, she takes on her evil form. [[spoiler:White witches, however, are both altruistic and beautiful.]]

-->Gretel: Let the girl go, ''or I'll blow your Sheriff's brains all over these fucking hillbillies.''

* DarkActionGirl: Several witches.

* {{Fanservice}}: Mina undressing to [[TwoPersonPoolParty bathe with Hansel]].

* FlashStep

* FracturedFairytale

* GratuitousGerman: Completely averted, which is odd considering the move takes place in Germany. Doubly so when some of the actors are German, but speak with American accents. This the TranslationConvention might be in effect.

* GiveGeeksAChance: Completely averted. Despite saving her life and [[TookALevelInBadass getting steadily more awesome throughout the film]], Ben's geeky devotion shows no signs of winning Gretel over - although she doesn't particularly show interest in anyone else either.

* HolyHandGrenade: Including literal grenades at one point.

* MadeOfIron: The amount of punishment Hansel and Gretel take throughout the film is incredible. Also the witches.
** Possibly {{justified|Trope}} as the witches aren't really human [[spoiler: and both Hansel and Gretel are the children of a Grand White Witch. Who knows, though Hansel can't use magic he probably got the durability of a witch]]. Everyone else takes a lot longer to recover from any kind of damage.

* RecklessGunUsage: All over the place, but Hansel especially, since he's [[CharacterTic fond of slinging his shotgun over his shoulder]] for no other reason than that it [[RuleOfCool looks cool]]. In one shot at the end of the film, it looks like it's ''pointing right at Benjamin's face''.

* RecklessSidekick: Averted quite strongly by the sidekick and the heroes. When fanboy Benjamin gushingly introduced himself, Gretel was actually fairly polite to him and somewhat appreciative of his hero-worship, and actually a bit impressed about all the research he did on witches and them. Hansel is more irritated, and both are a little creeped out. When Ben got his chance to get a sidekick role, he actually did what he was told - to hide and stand guard for a few hours, leading to a successful ambush.

-->'''Gretel:''' Are you a good shot?
-->'''Jackson:''' No. [Gretel gives him a look] That's why I use a shotgun.

* ShoutOut: Hansel and Gretel's mother resembles [[Film/SleepyHollow Ichabod Crane's]]: slightly EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette with long hair and a blue dress. [[spoiler: both were (or implied to be) white witches who loved their children but got killed by witch hunters.]]

* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: In this setting, witches have the magic and the villagers have the tech in the form of rifles and pistols being common. Magic has the huge upper hand against technology, to the point that swinging a shovel at a witch is far more effective than using a standard gun on her. Even the more advanced tech used by Hansel and Gretel doesn't do that much except to help lead a witch to a place where the siblings can beat on her in melee. It's only when their guns were enchanted that they became a real threat to the witches (and even there Muriel soaked 4 shots without any ill-effects later).

* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer makes [[spoiler:Edward the troll]] appear as a bigger threat. The scene in the trailer where he's stomping through the trees is when he's [[spoiler:''[[BigDamnHeroes coming to Gretel's rescue]]'']].

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "TROLLS. SERVE. WITCHES."]] Not that Gretel flickers an eyelid.

* WitchSpecies: [[spoiler: The daughter of a white witch is automatically a white witch herself, whether she uses magic or not. Additionally, it seems that power is inherited as well; Gretel doesn't practice witchcraft (as of yet) and didn't even know she ''was'' a witch until halfway through the film, but simply being the daughter of a Grand White Witch - the most powerful type of witch there is - is enough to qualify ''her'' as one, as well]].

* YourHeadAsplode
* YouTalkTooMuch: Mina says it to Hansel as they're bathing together when he keeps jabbering. Hansel later says it to Muriel after a large dose of exposition.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: You can't get insulin-dependent diabetes from eating too much sugar unless you gain a lot of weight, like two hundred pounds. And even if you could, a diabetic can go for several days without insulin.

-->Gretel: Let the girl go, ''or I'll blow your Sheriff's brains all over these fucking hillbillies."