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Rating: 1 out of 5
Sometimes, an original film does so well that a sequel is ordered. In those times, two things happen: the sequel does well or bombs. That is the case with the Snow White and the Huntsman series. The first film was okay. I wouldn’t have ordered a sequel, but when cash is king, studios will do anything to make a profit. A sequel was ordered, which made almost no sense in the end, even with a stellar cast. The storyline failed this film the most and should’ve been written far better than what was presented.
The movie started off well. It told the story of Queen Ravenna’s (Theron) younger sister, Princess Freya (Blunt), and her origins. I found it interesting that Freya was the opposite of Ravenna and her evil ways. She had no powers that emerged and was in love with a nobleman. She became pregnant and had a baby. When her baby was “murdered” by her baby daddy, she freakin loses it, and in grief-fueled rage, her powers emerge like Elisa from Frozen, and she has control over the element of ice and snow. Freya leaves and builds her own kingdom in the icy north. As the Ice Queen, she loses it and has parents killed and their children to be brought to her palace to be trained as her army. Her goal is to teach them not to feel love because it betrayed her. We are cool with all of this in my book.
The next part I am cool with is showing the origin story of the Huntsman and his wife. Eric (Hemsworth) and Sara (Chastain) are Freya’s two best warriors. Despite knowing love is outlawed, the pair fall in love. Sara states that Eric is hers and gives him his mother’s medallion necklace as a show of their marriage. When the pair plan to escape and live that life without war, they are discovered by Freya. During the little shuffle, Eric sees Sara killed while he gets his ass whipped and thrown into the river.
Cool, everything is good, we have a solid start to the film, and then it all goes to shit after it. The film picks up seven years after Queen Ravenna’s death, and Snow White is queen. The story goes into Snow White getting ill and has something to do with the magic mirror. Here is where the movie just bombs. We find out that Sara is alive and well and hates Eric. Why? She thought she had abandoned her years before. Where was she during this time? No one has the clearest idea. The film did undue everything that Eric went through in the movie. The pain, redemption, and finding peace with Snow White were all gone in an instant.
On those lines, the film brought back Queen Ravenna, who seemed far more powerful than before. How did she come back? She had a piece of her essence or merged with the magic mirror before she died. Homegirl was hiding out in the magic mirror all this time. This made Freya’s story irrelevant because she was the big bad villain throughout the film, and in the end, she became a side character. How did the movie do this? Ravenna slips and says that she was the one who killed her baby and framed her baby daddy only to bring out her sister’s powers. That was some cold-blooded shit right there.
The ending was repeated, with the final battle between Ravenna and the Huntsman. This time, Freya helps before dying. It was a waste of time. Everyone lives happily ever after, with Eric and Sara getting back together. Oh, and before I forget, rather than seven or eight dwarves, we have four dwarves and two men. We finally see some female dwarves who are tough, spicy, and definitely will whip some ass. I felt like they were needed in this dry ass film.
The acting was meh. Hemsworth, as Eric, was okay again. Everything he did in the first film seemed wasted, and he had to rediscover the motivation behind his character. It wasn’t like he could be a drunk because he finally got his life together. It seemed like a wasted opportunity for his talent.
Jessica Chastain, as Sara, was decent. It wasn’t her best work. I did enjoy seeing her run around and fight any type of beast. I really don’t see her in many action films. The script failed her in this film and not her acting abilities.
Emily Blunt’s performance as Queen Freya was the highlight of this entire film. She was a mix between an evil Elisa and the White Witch. She played Freya as a person who embattles her own emotions. She acts out in revenge and grief but “loves” her Huntsman. I found her performance cold but entertaining.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War is one of those films that you can skip. It doesn’t do anything, nor is it really entertaining. It is one of those films you can put on in the background and not really pay attention. Blunt’s performance is the only highlight in this mundane film. This film can freeze over in the depths of the underworld.
