A rather peculiar prequel/sequel to the 2012 movie ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ starring Kristin Stewart comes The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Chris Hemsworth is back once again in all his rugged glory, bringing with him a slight cheekiness to his character that is resemblant of another loveable blonde Aussie, the late Heath Ledger. Joining Hemsworth are Emily Blunt, who dominates in her portrayal of Freya The Ice Queen, and her evil sister Ravenna (played by the lovely Charlize Theron). Freya and Ravenna play a wicked, powerful, always-rivalling show-stopping sister duo in this slightly dark take on the classic fairytale Snow White. Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan gives us his first full-length feature movie, previously known for his visual spectacles in movies such as ‘The Ring’ and ‘One Hour Photo’, and does not fail to deliver another feast for the senses with The Huntsman. Snow White stays quiet this time round – even the ‘Mirror-on-the-wall’ fails to allude to her beauty when asked the famous question.
‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ sees Snow White (Kristen Stewart) pitted against the malevolent Ravenna, who is desperate to destroy the fair Snow, who joins the Huntsman in the fight to bring Ravenna to her grave. The sequel begins with a soul-destroying sisterly fight, upon which a distraught Freya retreats to the north after sister Ravenna, twisted with jealousy, betrays her in the most unthinkable fashion. The Huntsman is introduced to us as a young boy, snatched along with hundreds of children by Freya, who raises them up as an army to fight for her and protect her. The number one rule in Freya’s icy cold northern kingdom is no one shall ever love! Most movies have rule-breaker characters, and this is no exception. The Huntsman falls hard for fellow fighter Sara and eventually they end up on a quest to keep the Magic Mirror from Revenna’s evil grasp, while being pursued by Freya’s warriors, and so continues what is, unfortunately, a journey in which there is a whole lot of ‘bang’ and not a lot else. The Huntsman’s saving grace, apart from its visual appeal, is a newly-added comedic aspect that the dwarf characters bring to every scene, in particular, sassy female dwarf Bronwyn (Sheridan Smith) who leads the laughs and steals the show.
Sadly for the talented lineup, the plot and script is a let down to what has the potential to be something rather surprising and fun in the fantasy genre, with hinting among the movie reviewer world that this tale draws too much from the now classic animated Disney tale ‘Frozen‘.The Huntsman has sealed its fate to be another one of those “should have left it at one movie” sequels.
