Year of Release: 2016
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, Sope Dirisu, Sam Hazeldine, Sam Claffin, Sophie Cookson, Conrad Khan, Niamh Walter
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
After the surprising success of Rupert Sanders' "Snow White and the Huntsman", a sequel was quickly set in motion to focus on the least interesting part of that film, the Huntsman, who was played by Chris Hemsworth at the time riding the wave of popularity brought forth by the Marvel films. The sequel shifts its focus and takes us back in time, showcasing how Queen Ravenna's magical powers and beauty have been able to grant her control of other kingdoms. She has a younger sister by the name of Freya whose powers have not yet emerged, who falls in love with a nobleman, hoping to get married. Freya is pregnant and eventually gives birth to a little girl, before the couple has a chance to wed. However, Freya discovers what appears to be Andrew murdering their child, and grief-stricken her heart is frozen and she kills him with her newfound abilities, the control of ice. She moves towards the North and becomes a ruler of that region, courtesy of her abilities. She also starts training her armies from an early age, always making sure they all remember her teachings to never fall in love. Amongst her young recruits are Eric and Sara, both the best of their class, who grow up to be formidable warriors. Their love is however uncovered by Freya, who disapproves and apparently gets Sara killed and Eric thrown into a river. Years later, and after the events of the first feature, Snow White has fallen ill due to Ravenna's Magic Mirror. The Mirror is sent to the Sanctuary who protected Snow White, however while on route it gets highjacked. Eric is tasked with finding that mirror, which he agrees with since he knows if Freya gets ahold of it, her ice domain will increase. Much to his surprise, Sara who is still alive comes to his rescue and agrees to go along with him to make their mission is successful. But not all is what it seems in her intentions.
"Snow White and the Huntsman" was a barely watchable film, one that benefitted from Charlize Theron's icy performance (and one where Kristen Stewart was miscast). However, she is largely absent from this film, which in turn focuses its attention on Chris Hemsworth Huntsman, Emily Blunt's Freya (a version of Disney's Frozen), and Jessica Chastain's other Huntswoman, with several sidekicks for entertaining value and comic relief. The film, which is the feature directorial debut of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who previously had a lengthy career as a visual effects specialist, is riddled with enumerable tropes, incongruences, and visual issues. The characters all have fairly limited dimension, and for that matter motivation, including Freya's who is a conflicted villain, but also walks through the film half asleep. Even the White Walkers from the TV show "Game of Thrones" are more dynamic and menacing than anything that Freya and the writers on this film can actually come up with. Both Eric and Sara (great realistic names contrasting with Ravenna and Freya, both of which seem like great soap names), seem to be either Scottish or Welsh, whereas the queens seem to be British, all of which are details that are obviously irrelevant, however none of their ambitions seem to be very sensical at all (and by the way, those accents seem to come and go throughout the film). This ultimately feels like a narrative built by a committee, where a thread, an arc seems to be irrelevant, and where the ultimate goal is to get these great looking cast members in front of the camera, and hope they somehow bring this film to life. Sadly it doesn't work, for anyone on this film, including Charlize Theron and Jessica Chastain, both immensely talented individuals, who are completely wasted in this narrative. Visually the film boasts some questionable visual effects, but the cinematography from Phedon Papamichael is solid, as is the score from James Newton Howard. This is a mediocre and forgettable endeavor.
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