Last week I went to probably one of the busiest film screenings of this year: The Huntsman: Winter’s War. This long awaited sequel, which is actually a kind of prequel, and not really, has made a few waves by showing first of all in Germany, to a handful of fans. Considering the genre and expecting quite a few mythological fight scenes, I said that might as well get someone else along for the fun ride, so I took a mate with.
For those of you who are still confused about the action, let’s specify from the beginning that it starts before the whole Snow White war and it ends after the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) has presumably been defeated. The addition to this duo is Ravenna’s sister, of whom we get no mention in the Snow White movie, as she has her own kingdom, a very cold and lonely one, to take care of. The young Ice Queen (Emily Blunt) has spent the years after the death of her child in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen, all of them taken from their families at a very young age.
Among these huntsmen of hers we find Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain), the two most skilled warriors who make the deadly mistake of falling in love and seeking a life together in a kingdom where the word love has been almost erased from existence. Of course Freya doesn’t take this lightly and the choice she makes in regards to the lovers will later on affect the development of the story.
The surprise, which isn’t really such a huge one, is the return of Queen Ravenna, who, even if being a guest of the Ice Queen, takes full advantage of the army she seems to have at her disposal. When however, she loosens her tongue, and the truth about the life Freya could have had comes to light, the two sisters discover their blood bond might not be able to endure quite everything.
Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron are now at their second roles in this connected story and they naturally went back into their characters. She is still the heartless self-centred witch; he is still the brave Huntsman willing to help. The only difference is the fact we get to see more about their past and maybe this will help you understand better some of their choices.
Jessica Chastain as Sara is quite fierce and she brings to the character a bit of her own charm. Emily Blunt portrays the role of a powerful woman who however only made some of her choices based on the manipulation of her sister. She delivered a character that seems both cruel
and caring, and that isn’t easy to do.
The biggest problem this film has is the pace. The build-up for the main battle, which is less than a quarter of the film, is incredibly long and tedious. They move too slow and too late to what the audience might have wanted to see more of and that affected my overall reaction in regards to the film.
However, the funny moments dropped here in there, mostly by the dwarfs (Tolkien much?) or The Huntsman himself, make the audience detach themselves a bit from the general dark situation the characters find themselves in at times.
Visually speaking The Huntsman: Winter’s War is an absolute delight. The effects, the grandeur of the battle scene and the black and gold on the silvery white background offer a true spectacle. And that, considering the general tempo of the film, does help the general outcome of the film.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War will be released in the UK on the 4th of April.
