I saw The Huntsman: Winter's War today and I felt inclined to write down some thoughts on the film. We live in the age of the internet, and consequently, we are subjected to absolutely everyone's opinion (I am aware of the irony here). This over-exposure can actually be quite exhausting at times, as the negatives are always the first to be seen. The Huntsman has 22% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing this, and I couldn't feel more indifferent to it. This is one of those instances where I feel a 'fuck the critics' sort of attitude. While I am fully aware that this is no Return of the King, I know it's not trying be - These films are innocent fun at best. These are my thoughts:
The plot is marketed almost completely different to how it turns out, much to my frustration. As is the norm nowadays, the trailer contains way too much of the film. The most infuriating of all – the actual twist of the film, however predictable, is reduced to a throwaway aspect of the marketing! Not to mention the entire third act features heavily in promotional material – including some pivotal shots. To clarify how it differs to the actual film – the trailer markets it as somewhat of a sibling rivalry, whereas in reality Ravenna (Charlize Theron) mostly doesn't appear until the third act. The film focuses on the Magic Mirror and delivering it to Sanctuary. While the plot doesn't do too many unique things, and is crammed with genre conventions, they are sometimes delivered above expectations. For example, too much screen time isn't wasted repairing the relationship between The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and his wife (Jessica Chastain) beyond what is needed. A huge plot hole I thought the film would have briefly explained was the fact that Freya (Emily Blunt) was never spoken about or shown before now. Even during the flashback scenes in the first film, with young Ravenna and her brother, it is never explained why Freya was never seen – or even where their brother is during the events surrounding the death of Freya's baby. It would have been great to see, but I can't say it's a shocking omission. Something that greatly added to my enjoyment is the whole tone of the film, which is definitely a lot less sombre this time around.
Moving onto performances, Hemsworth and Theron deliver the expected solid acting we've come to expect (Hemsworth's accent has surely improved since the last film), and newcomer Blunt is cast perfectly in her role. Chastain, while a terrific actress and a convincing character, had me yo-yoing on my opinion of her accent. For those unaware, Chastain's character Sara plays the kickass wife of Hemsworth's Eric, and the plot calls for her to have a Scottish accent, naturally; I guess it kinda makes sense considering the characters are from the same place, but I don't want to get too hung up on accents when they range from all over the UK. Anyway, Sara sounds Irish in some lines and Australian in others, but it's not film-ruining – I see it as a similar situation to Hemsworth's accent in the first film; maybe she'll perfect it if another sequel gets greenlit.
Filling in the supporting roles and cameos, Nick Frost returns with Dwarf company in the form of Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith and Alexandra Roach – and kudos to them! Whereas I couldn't stand the dwarfs in Snow White and the Huntsman, here they are one of the film's highlights. They provide the majority of the comic relief, and I laughed way more than I should probably admit; Brydon in particular, although I may just be biased because I'm Welsh. That being said, no character really feels out of place. I certainly wasn't expecting to see Colin Morgan as Freya's lover, Sam Claflin return as Snow White's husband, William and is that Liam Neeson as the narrator?!
Speaking of appearances (or disappearances in this case), Kristen Stewart's Snow White is nowhere to be seen, save for a shot of archive footage from movie #1 and a brief scene with a stand-in. This is to be expected since the scandal that surrounded her affair, but it still would have been cool to see a cameo. Ballsy even. Fingers crossed she returns for a sequel – Ravenna did vow vengeance after all, and if the last shot is anything to go by she'll be back. I actually liked Snow White and Stewart is by no means the catastrophe of an actor that people make out; just look at her more recent performances like that in Still Alice – but that argument is for another time.
These films have always been the sort to favour style over substance, and that is evident here – but this time the ratio allows for that bit more substance. The sets are pretty good and the visual effects definitely hold up. The costumes and make-up are extremely beautiful to look at in regards to the elegant queens. James Newton Howard returns to score the film, and with him a few minor themes to solidify the film in its universe. While not a ground-breaking film in any sense, I had a lot of fun watching it. It feels like an appropriate sequel and actually works a lot better than its predecessor. Most importantly – its light-hearted fun and I'm likely to be one of the few to hope that a sequel is on the cards.
The plot is marketed almost completely different to how it turns out, much to my frustration. As is the norm nowadays, the trailer contains way too much of the film. The most infuriating of all – the actual twist of the film, however predictable, is reduced to a throwaway aspect of the marketing! Not to mention the entire third act features heavily in promotional material – including some pivotal shots. To clarify how it differs to the actual film – the trailer markets it as somewhat of a sibling rivalry, whereas in reality Ravenna (Charlize Theron) mostly doesn't appear until the third act. The film focuses on the Magic Mirror and delivering it to Sanctuary. While the plot doesn't do too many unique things, and is crammed with genre conventions, they are sometimes delivered above expectations. For example, too much screen time isn't wasted repairing the relationship between The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and his wife (Jessica Chastain) beyond what is needed. A huge plot hole I thought the film would have briefly explained was the fact that Freya (Emily Blunt) was never spoken about or shown before now. Even during the flashback scenes in the first film, with young Ravenna and her brother, it is never explained why Freya was never seen – or even where their brother is during the events surrounding the death of Freya's baby. It would have been great to see, but I can't say it's a shocking omission. Something that greatly added to my enjoyment is the whole tone of the film, which is definitely a lot less sombre this time around.
Moving onto performances, Hemsworth and Theron deliver the expected solid acting we've come to expect (Hemsworth's accent has surely improved since the last film), and newcomer Blunt is cast perfectly in her role. Chastain, while a terrific actress and a convincing character, had me yo-yoing on my opinion of her accent. For those unaware, Chastain's character Sara plays the kickass wife of Hemsworth's Eric, and the plot calls for her to have a Scottish accent, naturally; I guess it kinda makes sense considering the characters are from the same place, but I don't want to get too hung up on accents when they range from all over the UK. Anyway, Sara sounds Irish in some lines and Australian in others, but it's not film-ruining – I see it as a similar situation to Hemsworth's accent in the first film; maybe she'll perfect it if another sequel gets greenlit.
Filling in the supporting roles and cameos, Nick Frost returns with Dwarf company in the form of Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith and Alexandra Roach – and kudos to them! Whereas I couldn't stand the dwarfs in Snow White and the Huntsman, here they are one of the film's highlights. They provide the majority of the comic relief, and I laughed way more than I should probably admit; Brydon in particular, although I may just be biased because I'm Welsh. That being said, no character really feels out of place. I certainly wasn't expecting to see Colin Morgan as Freya's lover, Sam Claflin return as Snow White's husband, William and is that Liam Neeson as the narrator?!
Speaking of appearances (or disappearances in this case), Kristen Stewart's Snow White is nowhere to be seen, save for a shot of archive footage from movie #1 and a brief scene with a stand-in. This is to be expected since the scandal that surrounded her affair, but it still would have been cool to see a cameo. Ballsy even. Fingers crossed she returns for a sequel – Ravenna did vow vengeance after all, and if the last shot is anything to go by she'll be back. I actually liked Snow White and Stewart is by no means the catastrophe of an actor that people make out; just look at her more recent performances like that in Still Alice – but that argument is for another time.
These films have always been the sort to favour style over substance, and that is evident here – but this time the ratio allows for that bit more substance. The sets are pretty good and the visual effects definitely hold up. The costumes and make-up are extremely beautiful to look at in regards to the elegant queens. James Newton Howard returns to score the film, and with him a few minor themes to solidify the film in its universe. While not a ground-breaking film in any sense, I had a lot of fun watching it. It feels like an appropriate sequel and actually works a lot better than its predecessor. Most importantly – its light-hearted fun and I'm likely to be one of the few to hope that a sequel is on the cards.