HBO Max is releasing The Witches, via Warner Bros., and it’s a reinterpretation of the 1990 film of the same name, all based on Roald Dahl’s iconic book. The story follows a convention (do not call it a coven!) of witches staying at a small southern hotel. There is a trio of mice—who were changed from children via those evildoers—who are doing everything they can, with one of their grandmas (Octavia Spencer), to put an end to this witchy group.
The original film from 1990 starred Angelica Huston as the leader of the group of wicked souls. The 2020 HBO Max version finds another Oscar winner in the role in the form of Anne Hathaway. It is the goal of Hathaway’s Grand High Witch to put a little bit of her potion into every piece of candy that these witches will go back to their homes and open candy stores. The potion—you guessed it—turns kiddos into mice.
The Witches is narrated by Chris Rock, who also voices the Older Hero Mouse, while the youngster who plays him as a boy, then mouse, is a pitch-perfect match. Jahzir Bruno’s Hero Boy has just lost his parents and is forced to live with his Grandma (Spencer). Lucky for him, she is no amateur when it comes to dealing with those who dabble in the dark arts. When Hero Boy meets what he believes is a witch in a local general store, his world changes forever. When he tells Grandma, she insists they get out of town and she knows just the hotel to stay at until it’s safe to return home. Little did they know that this gorgeous, beside the Gulf of Mexico hotel, was about to welcome a witches convention, misrepresented as The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Ironic.
After a fateful moment, Hero Boy becomes Hero Mouse and he’s not alone. The witches have already turned Reginald (Brian Bovell), a British kid, into a mouse, as well as a little girl—Mary (voiced by Kristen Chenoweth). The trio race through the hotel to find Hero Boy’s Grandma—she’ll know what to do, they hope.
The Witches is directed by Robert Zemeckis and his magical touches are all of the film. The guy who gave us The Polar Express and Forest Gump has a tender and touching tone with two things—special effects geared towards youthful stores and tales from the South. He is the perfect person to helm this project, a master of movie magic. Dahl’s tale requires a magical sense that this hotel (where most of the action takes place) is almost otherworldly with its lost in time decor, cartoon-like staff (such as Stanley Tucci’s hotel manager Mr. Stringer—played by Rowan Atkinson in the 1990 flick) and unending sense of wonder coupled with child-friendly terror provided by out witchy hotel guests.
His command of the material is strong—he co-wrote the script with the fantastical Guillermo del Toro and Kenya Barris. For fans of the book, or those of you looking for something fun to watch with the family this weekend, look no further. It is a decent addition to the Dahl cinematic universe, except for one aspect.
That would be Hathaway’s witch leader. To say she chews the scenery is a gross understatement. I can see why she went big, especially given the descriptor of what the character could do with the CGI from Zemeckis. But sometimes less is more and she is nowhere near less. She goes so far over the top. I’m still waiting for her to come down. It’s downright distracting, to be honest. Hathaway almost screams some of her lines. Look, frustration is understandable. You’re being one-upped by a trio of mice and a southern Grandma whose desire to slay witches stems from an early childhood trauma. That trauma will circle back and that is handled beautifully, but again, the scene’s emotive pull is lost when Hathaway raises the roof with her raucous turn.
Spencer is pure joy. She is not a caricature by any means of an older southern grandma. This is a fully developed, three-dimensional character whose passion for protecting her grandson is so touching. Their bond is woven richly when the boy first comes home with her to Alabama and doesn’t say anything for weeks, while not eating either. Zemeckis makes Spencer’s food look so good—homemade chicken wings and cornbread, what’s wrong with you, son?!
When the two break through the ice and form a bond, it only increases every so organically over the course of the film. It is that bond that is impeccably captured once her grandson is turned into a mouse. Special effects can deliver you the most realistic talking mice in the history of Hollywood, but if there is no emotive tether between the characters, particularly in Dahl’s The Witches, then the entire endeavor is lost at sea. That is so not the case here as Spencer, Bruno, and Rock collectively come together to create a two-person family that is as blissful as anything Walt Disney can create.
Grade: B