The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Director

Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

Country

USA

Cast

Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Nick Frost, Sam Claflin, Rob Brydon, Alexandra Roach, Sheridan Smith, Sope Dirisu, Colin Morgan, Christopher Obi, Madeleine Worrall, Sam Hazeldine, Sophie Cookson, Liam Neeson, Conrad Khan, Niamh Walter

Storyline

Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and fellow warrior Sara (Jessica Chastain), raised as members of ice Queen Freya's army, try to conceal their forbidden love as they fight to survive the wicked intentions of both Freya (Emily Blunt) and her sister Ravenna (Charlize Theron).

Opinion

I wasn't crazy about "Snow White and the Huntsman" so I clearly didn't have high expectation for this one. And I'm glad I didn't because I would have only been disappointed.

Wonderfully packaged with beautiful visuals and a stellar cast, "The Huntsman: Winter's War" is a dull and entirely unnecessary prequel/sequel that is a mess from start to finish.

While its predecessor featured a spectacular performance from Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, so great that it's worth watching the film for it, this film has nothing great at all. First of all, it has been pitched as a prequel when it only spends 15 minutes before the story of the original, and the rest of the film - a never ending hour and a half or so - takes place after that.

And the after is another huge problem. The story seems really forced, and it's made completely uninteresting and uncompelling by some awful storytelling. Not to mention all of the discrepancies between the past in this film, and how that past has been told in "Snow White and the Huntsman". Same facts, like the death of the huntsman's wife, different story behind it.

To top that mess, the film also features two royal sisters becoming estranged, with one of them causing the kingdom to fall into a never ending winter - doesn't that remember you of another film? Something called "Frozen" maybe?

But the film did not just steal from one movie. The "victims" are indeed many, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hunger Games series.

And then comes the cast. Sure, it's stellar, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good. For some reason, Chris Hemsworth plays a complete different huntsman than before, and this version is not very likable. Jessica Chastain is completely wasted to play that shallow character. Emily Blunt gives a lifeless performance as Elsa. Oops, I meant Freya. And Charlize Theron, oh poor woman, she does her best, but one person alone can't save a mess of a film.