Point-by-Point: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters 4/10

The Good:
Let's be honest: nobody thought this would be good; even the movie itself doesn't think it's going to be good. But it's just that kind of awareness that makes H&G:WH watchable. While the camp does fall down in certain places (the camp-to-serious ratio is about 60:40, when it should probably have been more like 80:20 -- Evil Dead style), there is just enough to make this a fun ride.

I am a big fan of movie weaponry, in general, and this movie had oodles of totally-absurd and anachronistic guns and bows. Again: this does not a "film" make, but it does increase the fleeting enjoyment of it.

18th century machine gun? Just suspend that disbelief and roll with it

We saw this in IMAX 3D, and while I'm not sure this was really necessary, the 3D is well handled. Yes, there are a few of the obligatory arrows-at-the-face shots, but overall, it's done surprisingly tactfully. I appreciate movies that understand when to leverage 3D's the surprise-value and when to let it just exist in the background.

The Bad:
This may not make a ton of sense to anyone else but me, but a big problem I had with H&G:WH was that it just looked too clean. there's mud and blood and dirt, sure, but everything is shot so brightly that it just felt oddly sanitized and too shiny.

It's been a few hours since I walked out of the movie theatre now... and I don't really remember what happened. I remember the set-pieces, but I'd be hard-pressed to really explain a lot of the characters' motivations. This probably doesn't bode well for its quality.

The Ugly:

This is what Gerard Way would look like as a witch. This character irritated me for ages because I couldn't figure out who she looked like. I finally figured it out! Bam! My Chemical Romance!

Points I Pondered:

• The more I think about gun control issues, the more I get slightly weirded out by movies with gleeful, unapologetic gunslinging.
• I'm sure there're some interesting essays to be written about stereotypical Gothic typography and everything that I'm sure is wrong with it (comparable to the kerfluffle over Asian typography, although not quite as vehement for obvious reasons).