The Huntsman Is At War With Winter And Bad Writing
What did you expect from the prequel/sequel to a quasi-reboot of a classic fairytale?
No one thought ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War‘ was going to be a stellar film but there was glimmers of something better among the icy rumble. Where this film fails the most is trying to tell too many stories about events leading up and following the fairly simple story in 2012’s ‘Snow White & The Huntsman“. Focusing efforts into only one of these plots would have helped center the film.
Going into the movie, my expectations were low. All I really wanted were some fairytale elements & stunning visuals. While I got a wonderful storybook-style narration from what sounds like Liam Neeson, the CGI was a bit lackluster. For the director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan to be a visual effect artist, I expected some insane visuals but most were repeats from the first film & generic landscapes. With such bold elements like gold and ice, the effects could have been so striking when facing each other but it was wasted on cheap tricks.
Problems can also be found in the film’s pacing. The fight scenes would start to get good but then stop early in order to have more melodrama. Action wasn’t the only thing cut short. So was the tension. The film had a long enough running time that it could have prolonged a few reveals. Things were rushed in order to get to the next scene but they never paid attention to the moment at hand.
One of the few saving graces were the dwarves. Played by the returning Nick Frost and new faces Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, and Alexandra Roach, the team provided some laughs from even the most cynical viewers at the press screening. I don’t want to sing their praise too loudly as the studio might catch wind & give them an unnecessary spin-off…
Speaking of unnecessary, why would Charlize Theron attempt to match the accents of the film when she knew she wouldn’t keep it up throughout. This was Halle Berry in ‘X-Men‘ level bad. She would sometimes dip out from her faux-English accent to her regular voice within the same sentence. We know she is a powerful actress but why did she try that? At least it was better than Jessica Chastain having to do her best Merida from ‘Brave‘ impersonation.
Rounding out the cast was Emily Blunt as Elsa, I mean Freya and Chris Hemsworth as the titular Huntsman. Yes, The Huntsman does have a name but no one cares about some dude named Eric. Blunt’s performance as Freya was a few ice-puns away from Mr. Freeze level of ridiculous. Her character did have the best arc but it was thrown to the background as Hemsworth & Theron fought for all the attention. Chris “Forever Thor” Hemsworth did his best axe-swinging & mumbling; basically all I was going to be getting from this role.
Will you be seeing ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ this weekend? The film starring Chris Hemsworth comes out April 22nd, 2016. Expect it to have fairly weak competition at the box-office.
