The Huntsman: Winter's War Review

If you want a film teeming with girl power and ruling females with crowns that glitter like stars, or if you simply want to ogle at one very handsome man with a fake accent, then this film is for you.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War is the second film in the franchise, but acts as both a prequel and a sequel to the first film, Snow White and the Huntsman, released in 2012. That timing factor was unclear in the trailer and briefly in the film, though unfolds itself soon enough. The Huntsman begins prior to the events of Snow White, with Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) as she conquers yet another Kingdom. However, this time we are introduced to her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) who stands by her evil queen of a sister.

The first part of the film exclusively tells us the tale of how Freya’s icy power is awakened and the destruction of her pure-heart and good nature, after the death of her child and the betrayal of her dearly beloved (Colin Morgan). Freya abandons her sister’s side to forge her own snowy kingdom and a rise an army of high skilled warriors known as the Huntsmen. This is where we are introduced to Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain) as children soldiers who are taught by Queen Freya not to love. Of course, against Queen Freya’s orders the two children grow into adults and fall in love and naively believe they can hide their love from the cold Queen they serve.

As a side note, this storyline, about the children warriors, was the most interesting element to the film. Much more could have been done with this storyline than what was. Another intriguing storyline that wasn’t adapted on was the two wicked sisters’ past. Especially regarding the comment spoken by Ravenna about how magic runs in their bloodline, but it usually needs to be sparked or awoken, typically from a painful and scarring event. Now, I want to watch a film about that!

Like two silly teenagers in love, the couple decides to run away from home. They construct a plan to the leave the kingdom but it fails miserably yet predictably. The Ice Queen convinces Eric that his true love has perished and convinces Sara that her Prince Charming abandoned her, leaving her shattered heart to turn to ice at the hands of Queen Freya.

This is where the film time jumps to after the events of the first movie. Freya learns the news of her dear sister’s death and wishes to retrieve the mirror that belonged to the evil queen. However, Snow White orders her soldiers to take the magical and deadly mirror to a safe place where it cannot hurt and reach into people’s minds (including her own). On that journey, the mirror is lost and that is when Eric is recruited by Prince William (Sam Claflin) to find hunt down the mirror before it falls into the wrong hands. Claflin’s appearance was a familiar comfort. Seeing as the film creators constructed a weak excuse to not feature Snow White (Kristen Stewart) in a story set in her own fairy tale.

Just as most fairy tales and fantasy stories there is always a journey to save a pretty damsel in distress or a quest to seek out a magical object. The Huntsman follows the latter for most of the film until Hemsworth’s Eric chases after his not-dead wife after she voluntarily leaves with Queen Freya after finally being reunited with Eric.

The film’s body is filled with humorous and loveable dwarfs (Nick Frost, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach and Rob Brydon) and many battles that show off Hemsworth and Chastain’s well-crafted fighting skills and the not-so-long journey back to the wintry kingdom of Queen Freya.

And as shown in the trailer the Evil Queen herself, Ravenna is resuscitated (finally) and brings her bitchy and ruthless nature upon Frey’s Kingdom. Though, I honestly thought Theron would have more screen time. The last stretch of the film is about the dynamics of the sisters, and how they both try to take control and struggle against each other. The final and true showdown is really between the two powerful sisters and how different they really were, despite the attempts of Ravenna over the years to transform her sister into the kind of woman and queen that Ravenna was.

While the film was flat most of the time, especially the climax of the film and the final battle was lagging behind dramatically, there are highlights of The Huntsman: Winter’s War that make it worthy of a watch. Those two beyond interesting storylines I mentioned before and the extreme yet stunning costumes, the astonishing visual effects and the magnificent casting are strong reasons to see the film, even if you weren’t a fan of the first film you can still enjoy the two hours.

Watch the trailer below:

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