Hansel & Gretel

PG

Released Oct 18, 2002

1h 28m

Fantasy

Adventure

Comedy

Drama

List

0%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

50%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

During a thunderstorm, the father of Katie (Dakota Fanning) and Andrew (Thomas Curtis) reads a story to help calm their nerves. The one he chooses is "Hansel and Gretel," in which the little boy (Jacob Smith) and girl (Taylor Momsen) of the title are left in a dangerous forest by their evil stepmother, but they make several magical friends. Then Hansel and Gretel are wandering alone when they stumble across a house made of candy -- but the woman inside is a witch who plans on eating Hansel.

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Luke Sader

Hollywood Reporter

It would be hard to imagine a more feeble rendering of the 19th century Grimm Brothers tale.

Oct 31, 2002

Full Review

Nancy Churnin

Dallas Morning News

What it lacks is a coherent point of view or consistent tone.

Rated: C

Oct 24, 2002

Full Review

Robert Koehler

Variety

While the picture stays to basic outline of the original story in opening and closing sections, the large middle is stuffed with badly staged slapstick and painful stabs at hip dialogue in an arch attempt to cater to modern kids.

Oct 21, 2002

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 17, 2005

Full Review

Chuck Wilson

L.A. Weekly

For trashing a classic, [Tunnicliffe] and his writing cohorts deserve a Grimm-style fate -- perhaps a long, slow boil in the witch's vat?

Oct 24, 2002

Full Review

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Ed P

i liked it because it was the only hansel and gretel moves that showed hansel getting fat unlike hansel and gretel 11987

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/24

Full Review

Nicola M

Genuinely enjoyed it as a kid, now enjoy it as an absolutely insane so bad it's good movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watched this on accident because amazon prime had this labeled as the 80s version. It most definitely was NOT that. The acting was quite odd and not very good, and I mean this towards the adult actors as I don't expect kids to be great actors (although they did alright for kids honestly). The sandman was by far my least favorite part, as were the rest of the strange added characters, they were unnecessary and didn't add any sustenance to the movie. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the audio yet as i thought it was pretty bad. The dialogue was weirdly loud and every time a character was "whispering" they would talk at the same volume as always, and the only real indicator that they were whispering was either them speaking into someones ear or the camera would zooming towards their face more. In summary this movie was bad, and not even "so bad its good", just bad. It wasn't just a cringey kids movie with outdated humor or kids jokes, it was a badly made, low quality nightmare.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Original and so ****ing sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

steve d

Unwatchable take on the classic that is shocking bad.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

You know, Hansel & Gretel 2002 could've been just your average run-of-the-mill faux-whimsical family film were it not for the cringy early 2000's lingo, poorly executed sequences of slapstick comedy, a blatant disregard for the Brothers Grimm fairy tale and the awful-looking production design. This looks more like a glorified school play rather than a professional 21st-century adaptation. Though I've never seen the Witch Hunters movie from 2013, I'm sure that even that movie is much, much better than this mess.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

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Gary J. Tunnicliffe

Director

Taylor Momsen

Gretel

Jacob Smith

Hansel

Delta Burke

Stepmother

Howie Mandel

The Sandman

Gerald McRaney

Father

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Synopsis

During a thunderstorm, the father of Katie (Dakota Fanning) and Andrew (Thomas Curtis) reads a story to help calm their nerves. The one he chooses is "Hansel and Gretel," in which the little boy (Jacob Smith) and girl (Taylor Momsen) of the title are left in a dangerous forest by their evil stepmother, but they make several magical friends. Then Hansel and Gretel are wandering alone when they stumble across a house made of candy -- but the woman inside is a witch who plans on eating Hansel.

Director: Gary J. Tunnicliffe
Producer: Steve Austin, Jonathan Bogner
Screenwriter: Jonathan Bogner, Timothy Dolan, Gary J. Tunnicliffe
Production Co: Majestic Film Partners
Rating: PG (Some Crude Humor|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 18, 2002, Original
Release Date (DVD): Nov 16, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA): $148.2K
Runtime: 1h 28m
Sound Mix: Surround