The Witches

The Witches
Starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Jahzir Kadeem Bruno
Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Robert Zemeckis was one of the most memorable directors of the 80s and 90s, bringing to life such iconic works as the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Romancing the Stone," "Death Becomes Her," and "Forrest Gump" (for which he earned an Oscar for).  The 2010s saw the director fumbling a bit in his work such as the so-so "Welcome to Marwen" and "The Walk," and it seemed that his directing talent was waning, at least in terms of film choices he picked.  Then 2020 came, and he chose to do a re-imagining of the Roald Dahl classic kid's book "The Witches" - a film that is itself a re-imagining of the 1990 classic starring Anjelica Huston - and the result is a mixed bag to say the least.  While the visuals, the effects (mostly), costume designs, set pieces, and Anne Hathaway were wonderful, the actual story lacked depth, and the entirety of it felt extremely hollow.

After loosing his parents in a car crash in 1968, a young boy (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) moved from Chicago to Alabama to live with his grandmother (Octavia Spencer), whose infectious joy helped bring him out of his sadness.  Yet this was only the beginning, as the grandmother had a run-in with a witch when she was a child, and one seemed to follow her, causing her to get sick.  When the boy sees the witch in a grocery store, the grandmother (who dabbles in voodoo-like incantations) decides to take him to a high-class hotel to keep him safe, since witches only go after children who won't be missed.

Unfortunately, the hotel she chose was also host to a literal witch's convention, held by the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway).  The boy learns that the witches - who hate children - plan to turn every child in the world into mice, but before he could escape he's captured and turned into a mouse himself, along with his friend Bruno, and then learns that his own pet mouse Daisy was also formerly a child turned into a mouse.  Together with his grandmother, they set out to stop the witches' plan before every child in the world is turned into a mouse.

Roland Dahl was a modern-day Grimm Brothers storyteller, a man who wasn't afraid to tell darker stories for children with tales like "The Witches," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and "James and the Giant Peach," and the result was pure nightmare fuel for children.  "The Witches" is one of those terrifying family friendly tales that was exemplified on the big screen in the 1990 adaptation, which is still hailed today as one of the best, in no small part due to Anjelica Huston's fine performance.  To remake this classic is a bold step indeed, and not even the likes of Zemeckis and producers Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron could re-create that same magic.  While there were flashes of brilliance, it ultimately fell into the category of the mundane, one that was richly flavored but didn't deliver a satisfactory meal.

This version transplants the story from England to Alabama in hopes of using its racial undertones to deliver a more compelling story, but that seems all but forgotten through most of the film, except for a few moments where the grandmother tells her grandson that she's taking him to the hotel because it's rich and full of white people, as witches only go for kids who won't be missed, which is in itself a veiled way of saying that they only go for African American children, which doesn't seem to be the case.  Apart from that, there was no real reason to change locations, even though it managed to invoke a fantastic beautiful landscape and set design that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

The story fares rather well, but peters out about halfway through.  The actual denouement occurs during the middle of the film when the boy witnesses the witches talking about their plans, and this is the standout moment of the entire film.  It's darkly comedic and dark in tone, and will easily give children nightmares, especially when it comes to the costume designs and effects for Anne Hathaway's Grand High Witch, who we first see in the film looking like a normal woman with strange scares on either side of her lips (which made me think of "The Dark Knight" and how the Joker kept asking people to inquire about how he got his scars).  When we see why she has those scars, it's downright terrifying, and so is the concept the witches concoct - to turn every child into a mouse. 

After this encounter, the boy is turned into a mouse, and that's when the film starts to falter.  Nothing could be as terrifying as the moment in the grand hall, and the film resorts to typical child-like jokes and humor that diminishes from the real terror around them.  It also becomes systematic and simplistic, culminating in a very anti-climactic showdown that doesn't pack nearly enough punch. 

When it comes to the performances, Anne Hathaway steals the show as the Grand High Witch, who deliciously relishes in her role to be a bad guy for once.  While her portrayal has received criticism as an insult to those struggling with Ectrodactyly (the deficiency or absence of one or more central digits of the hand or foot), she makes the role her own and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Huston's performance.  She's gleefully maniacal and subtly terrifying all rolled into one, and steals every scene she's in with simplicity and flawlessness that can only come from the Oscar-winner.  Octavia Spencer also performs admirably in a role that's virtually suited for her, as the loving, maternal grandmother. 

Thanks to a fun performance by Anne Hathaway and some gorgeous set and costume designs, "The Witches" lifts itself out of the bottom of the pit remakes and serves as an alright adaptation of the classic children's novel that'll be sure to give a whole new generation of children nightmares.

The Score: C