The Huntsman: Winter's War

If you liked “Frozen” but wish it had been darker, “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” released in 2016, is for you.

It’s about two royal sisters, one who finds out in anger that she has the ability of ice attack from her fingertips – so she exiles herself to the mountains, where she makes her own kingdom and builds her own army. She even wears immoral gowns in different shades of pale blue and puts her hair in detailed braids.

Really, this is what “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” is about.

Christy Lemire said in her review, “But before you can say “let it go,” this sorta-prequel, sorta-sequel, sorta-something-in-between to 2012’s “Snow White and the Huntsman” trots out several other subplots, all of which combine to make a messy (and less-than-magical) narrative.”

The original film worked as a dark take on the familiar “Snow White” story, with amazingly beautiful, intense imagery and highly villainous take from Charlize Theron as the evil queen. It was enjoyable but empty, but at least it kept focus and sucked you in. Lemire said, “This time, first-time feature director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (taking over for Rupert Sanders) has trouble juggling all the scattered storylines in Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin’s script.”

Is “Winter’s War” about a fight between two sisters, the shameful Ravenna (Theron) and the shocked Freya (Emily Blunt)? Is it about the forbidden love between Freya’s two best soldiers, huntsman Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and hardcore Sara (Jessica Chastain)? Is it about Snow White, who’s mentioned with great respect but is seen only a couple times in the short, unclear of flashbacks? (Unlike Theron and Hemsworth, Kristen Stewart does not return for the sequel, despite being the protagonist in the first movie. Lemire mentioned, “Even my six-year-old kid thought that seemed weird.”) Or is it about the backbiting, digitally-enhanced dwarfs, played by Nick Frost and Rob Brydon, who basically are comic relief?

Lemire is right when she said, “The only cohesive force is a pervasive sense of self-serious dreariness. With the exception of a brief visit to a forest full of fairy sprites and vibrantly-hued creatures, “Winter’s War” is as monotonously somber as the title would suggest.”

It starts with a murder of a baby and changes to the kidnapping and training of child soldiers (they’re not just for young adult adaptations anymore!) to serve as the terrible Freya’s army as she wants revenge from the top of snow-covered hills. Freya has made it clear that love is illegal, but her two deadliest weapons, Eric and Sara, have dared to fall in love – and she shatters their chances to do that. Motivations aren’t really complicated here, but the universal voiceover from Liam Neeson tells everything for us nonetheless.

Seven years later (and in the timeline, after what happened in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” for those who was paying attention), Ravenna may or may not be dead. However, the mirror that created her is missing, and everyone’s looking for it, because it must be powerful or something along those lines. It is the shiny, golden McGuffin, and it can either bring people together or break them apart.

As for the work it does on Hemsworth and Chastain’s characters, it could go either way – but then again, who really cares? As liking as they are separately, they don’t share any chemistry with one another. Their love scenes (including one that just happens in the only hot tub in this entire frozen area) are completely disinteresting to watch. Lemire said, “Their flirty banter isn’t much better, and only in part because they’re speaking in inconsistent Scottish accents. Hemsworth is borderline unintelligible much of the time, and not in an intentionally funny, Brad-Pitt-in-“Snatch” kind of way; Chastain’s brogue flits in and out. And luminous and versatile as Chastain is, playing the warrior princess isn’t her strong suit.”

The other main actors here – Theron and Blunt – bring a once in a while enjoyable corniness to the actions as fighting queens. Blunt can be very scary as the destroyed Freya, as she does her best to introduce strength to the character that doesn’t exist on screen. Meanwhile, Theron is hamming it up to a point, it’s like she’s in a completely different movie – one with some life to it that you’d actually want to watch.

Lemire noted, “Nicolas-Troyan has a visual effects background (including an Oscar nomination for his work on “Snow White and the Huntsman”) so the major set pieces can be striking at times, especially the moments involving the mirror itself in all its hypnotic allure.” However, a lot of the action is just boring and emotionally broken – one-note, repeating fights with axes/sticks/swords/etc.

Lemire noted, The costumes are mind-bogglingly beautiful, though—the work of the great Colleen Atwood, 11-time Oscar nominee and three-time winner (for “Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Alice in Wonderland”) who also designed the clothes for the original “Huntsman.” The luxuriously appointed gowns range from gold-and-black, bird-fetish chic for the statuesque Theron to crisp and crystalline grays and blues for Blunt—although it’s clear that the cold never bothered her anyway.”

If you liked “Snow White and the Huntsman,” like I did, then you will not like this movie. It’s a dumped down, terrible follow-up to the first movie. It was just a boring, repetitive film that served no purpose. Why make a sequel? There was no need for it, so it may have been just for money. Just avoid this film at all cost.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of this year’s “Halloween Month.”