THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR (2016) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

the huntsman: winter's war (2016) movie

Genre               |   Fantasy

Classification   |   M

Running time   |  114 minutes

Released         |   7 April 2016

cast

Chris Hemsworth ... The Huntsman / Eric
Charlize Theron ... Ravenna
Jessica Chastain ... Sara
Emily Blunt ... Queen Freya
Nick Frost ... Nion

director

​Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

writer

​Evan Spiliotopoulos ... (written by) and
Craig Mazin ... (written by)
 
Evan Daugherty ... (characters)

cinematographer

Phedon Papamichael ​

music

​James Newton Howard

film editor

​Conrad Buff IV

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​164,989,338  

Australia                 $​​​​5,140,914

North America        $48,390,190  

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the best dialogue

Ravenna: Are you ready huntsman?
The Huntsman: Aye.

The Huntsman: Whoever gets in there will be unstoppable.
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THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR (2016) IMAGES

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR (2016) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Betrayed by her evil sister Ravenna (Charlize Theron), heartbroken Freya (Emily Blunt) retreats to a northern kingdom to raise an army of huntsmen as her protectors. Gifted with the ability to freeze her enemies in ice, Freya teaches her young soldiers to never fall in love. When Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and fellow warrior Sara defy this rule, the angry queen does whatever she can to stop them. As war between the siblings escalates, Eric and Sara try to end Ravenna's wicked reign.

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR (2016) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 7 April 2016
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR is a sequel that not many people would have expected. Its predecessor, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, made under $400 million at the global box office back in 2012 on a reported production budget of $170 million. Factoring in marketing costs, the film would have cost somewhere between $250 million and $300 million to produce, market and distribute. Spending that much to generate under $400 million at the box office is not economical; especially in the movie business. It took many people by surprise when it was announced a sequel would be produced. Throw in the tabloid talk of Snow White star Kristen Stewart’s on-set romance with married Director Rupert Sanders, which saw the end of her relationship with R-Pat and a spurned spouse in Liberty Ross, it’s amazing that anyone wanted to revisit the franchise at all.

Yet, here we are… Four years down the track and French Visual Effects Producer turned Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan has given audiences a two hour bookend to Snow White that acts as both a prequel and a sequel, of sorts. THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR kicks off with an incredibly long prologue that elaborates on the childhood of Huntsman Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and introduces audiences to his “dead” wife from the first film’s backstory, Sara (Jessica Chastain). Into the mix is thrown the Winter Queen Freya (Emily Blunt), whose trauma at the hands of a duplicitous lover sees her unleash her magical powers and freeze the northern lands beyond Snow White’s kingdom. And yes, in the background, is the wicked Ravenna (Charlize Theron), whom the audience learns is Freya’s older sister and up to the same kind of no-good she was unleashing as Snow White’s rival in the first film. Throw in Nick Frost, who returns as the Dwarf Nion (along with some new Dwarf comic relief) and you have an eclectic team of performers who appear to be acting without really understanding what the hell is going on.

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR really struggles to define its sense of purpose from start to finish. The script, pulled together by the very odd pairing of Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin, doesn’t work terribly well as a stand-alone story and commits the error of invalidating much of the “hero’s journey” outcomes of Chris Hemsworth’s Eric from the first movie. There are kernels of what the film could have been on show throughout the film’s mid-section, as Eric teams up with Nion and new Dwarf Gryff, played by Rob Brydon. Things get even livelier when Eric’s party are trapped by two female Dwarves, Mrs.Bromwyn (Sheridan Smith) and Doreena (Alexandra Roach). Writer Craig Mazin’s background in comedy screenplays shines through in this part of the movie, as the dialogue sharpens considerably and the banter between Brydon and Smith is fired-off with searing intent only to be batted back with full force. Sadly for both the film and viewers, the wisecracks don’t last, but nor would they have been enough to sustain the film to its end. The plot needed a lot more energy spent to establish why this story needs to be told at all.

Despite four very well-known actors in the main roles, THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR lacks a box office drawcard for audiences. Unlike the first movie, The Huntsman doesn’t have the “Snow White” brand upon which draw lovers of classic fairy-tales. Chris Hemsworth has had a number of misfires over the last 18 months and, outside of his Marvel Thor character, doesn’t seem to resonate with moviegoers. He must surely be hoping against hope that THE HUNTSMAN opens solidly and manages to finish at least on par with the first film. Jessica Chastain has her moments of levity, but along with Emily Blunt, the majority of both performances are too grounded and don’t embrace the fantasy of the story. It’s a real shame to see such good actresses unable to bring something to characters that should have even just a bit of little spark about them. At the other end of the scale, Charlize Theron turns in another scenery-chewing performance that’s slightly more subdued than her 2012 take on the character. Her appearances in the story make absolutely no sense, but at least she looks like she’s relishing the opportunity to be “Wicked”! The big winners are the Dwarves: Frost, Brydon, Smith and Roach. If there’s going to be a continuation of this gritty fairy-tale franchise, perhaps it’s worth considering letting the little people have their time in the Sun…

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