Winter’s tale of woe

The Huntsman: Winter’s War
STARRING: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain
DIRECTOR: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Genre: Fantasy adventue
Rating: PG-15
114 mins

Serving as both a prequel and sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, The Huntsman: Winter’s War follows a very similar vein. It has a stellar cast and big-budget visuals, but at best it isn’t engaging enough for fantasy and actions fans, and isn’t child-friendly enough for families. At worst, it’s just not enjoyable at all.

The story chronicles how the titular huntsman Eric (Hemsworth) and his future wife, Sara (Chastain), were raised in the kingdom ruled by snow queen Freya (Blunt), the sister to the original film’s mirror-obsessed Queen Ravenna (Theron).

Freya, after being heartbroken, has one big rule all her subjects must obey: thou shalt not love. So the film essentially chronicles characters trying and failing to adhere to that mantra, while Freya tries and fails to implement it.

Consequently, Freya’s reign threatens Snow White’s kingdom and it’s up to Eric, Sara, and their companions to stop her. Meanwhile, in the background, Ravenna returns to both aid and manipulate her youngster sister.

If it all sounds a bit daft and gooey, you wouldn’t be wrong. This is a story told innumerable times before (both as a Snow White spin-off and as separate entities ‘borrowing’ the story’s elements) and there’s nothing fresh here to stand out. It’s pretty much the antithesis of the brilliant Jungle Book reviewed a fortnight ago.

Such unoriginality begins with the characters, with Freya and Sara shamelessly poached from the Disney backlog. If Freya was any more like Frozen’s snow queen Elsa, she’d burst into Let it Go, while Chastain’s heroine Sara is a curly redhead with masterful archery skills and a (albeit terrible and distracting) Scottish accent reminiscent of Brave’s Meridia.

The rest are a mixed bag. Hemsworth’s Eric is all over the map tonally, from a self-effacing dimwit one moment to a serious, hardened warrior with an inspiring speech the next. For example, in one scene he discovers that his true love is alive and well after seemingly being forever separated, but his first instinct is to act casual and shallow about it.

It’s totally at odds with the character they’ve established over two movies, and it makes you wonder if Hemsworth just dialled the performance in for a quick pay packet than actually provide feedback on the script.

Blunt, despite the Elsa influences, is the standout. She puts her all into Freya, striking a good balance between the character’s vulnerability and her chilling, calculated conviction. The movie rouses to life whenever she and Theron share a scene and provides the film’s high points.

There might not be Seven Dwarves this time around, but the four this sequel does include play the comic relief. Nick Frost’s Nion is the only dwarf from the original to return, and while their jokes and interactions are all predictable, they do their best.

The elephant in the room is Kristen Stewart’s Snow White. She’s glimpsed extremely briefly in an opening montage, and is then oft-mentioned but never really seen save for a body double’s back in one shot.

There’s a pointless subplot about her being unwell, but then all of that just disappears from the story halfway through anyway. You really get the feeling that Stewart was pencilled in to reprise her role, at least in a cameo capacity, but her real-life press cuttings and drawing the ire of millions of celeb-obsessed teens was deemed terrible PR. They just forgot to adjust the script after they made the decision to bin her off.

Overall, The Huntsman: Winter’s War is an uninspired, lethargic affair saddled with a predictable story that pilfers the best elements of more family-friendly fantasy fare and then smothers the life and light from them. Dreadfully inconsistent characters don’t help either. Don’t bother hunting for a ticket.

Showing in Novo Cinemas, Cineco, Seef I, Saar, Wadi Al Sail, Dana Cineplex

Rating: 2/5