The Huntsman: Winter's War

Some people really need to get over themselves, judging by some of the reviews for this film. It is a fantasy based on children's stories - what the hell were they expecting, Hamlet or Henry V?

It was a fun ride with plenty of action, plenty of humour, and a great cast - Chris Hemsworth brings his usual cheery action hero to the mix, Jessica Chastain was a good addition as The Huntsman's wife, and Emily Blunt played the fragile Ice Queen wonderfully well. The Dwarfs were comic relief as always, but it worked well with fewer of them and a couple of females in the mix.

The story wasn't overcomlicated but if I want that, I'll go watch Memento. Chill out a little, folks.

This film tells the story of a fierce huntsman who goes on a quest to stop the evil ice queen from getting the magical mirror that will make her invincible.

I am positively surprised by how much I enjoyed watching "The Huntsman: Winter's War". The visuals are stunningly beautiful. I find myself in awe of the marvels of the ice palace. The hairstyles and costumes of the queens, Ravenna and Freya, are super beautiful too. I was amazed by the scene where Charlize Theron has gold on her eyes, the whole image is stunning.

Seeing Emily Blunt as an emotionless icy queen is very interesting as well. After watching her in "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Sicario", I could hardly imagine her as a royally beautiful and majestic queen. Yet, she is perfect as the queen who is deeply hurt and hence deeply cruel.

I enjoyed every minute of "The Huntsman: Winter's War".

The cast is nice , Chris Hemsworth , Charlize Theron , Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt are all accomplished actors and they did their roles well. The story had an obvious ending and an obvious twist but then that's not what the movie was all about. If you want to watch an action packed fantasy drama with some decent CGI effects and decent acting , well you cant discount this film . I personally found this better than the first one as the first one was tad slower and seemed to drag on a bit perhaps more so because of snow white and her frozen acting . Here the frost queen acted more fluidly . I did enjoy the CGI as well because it was not over used and the colouring of the gold with black in contrast with the ice queens blue and white went really well. In my opinion its definitely worth a watch.

The Huntsman: Winter's War may have its flaws, but is an undeniable improvement over the first which appears even more average due to the new life found in the second. Some dodgy and questionable accents aside, the main four and the supporting four all compliment each other and offer strong and more complex performances (especially those returning), if only the underrated Sam Clafflin got more of a look in. Beautiful scenery, landscapes and effects all help in building this fantasy world and the before-and-after structure helps with the flow of the story once you overcome the inceptive confusion. I went into this film expecting to come out disappointed but instead did so feeling pleasantly surprised at the increased quality and final product.

Summary: The Huntsman: Winter's War, whilst with its flaws, is an undeniable improvement over the first instalment, with rich scenery and landscapes bolstered further by solid performances all round.

FULL REVIEW: http://goo.gl/jrMAbH

I want to say at the very beginning that at the base of this prequel/sequel is a false premise, or a logical fallacy. If one does remember the first movie, there's no way this one can be truly connected to the same story and characters. This is simply a story line that was stretched and contorted so another movie could be created with Charlize Theron as the evil queen and Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman, everything else didn't matter, the producers thought they could get some more money from the struggle between these two and the rest simply had to fit in. I knew that before I went to see this one, and I was practically ready to hate it. I didn't. And once again, the main reason is the acting. To be more precise, it's the three actresses pulling this unlikely story from start to end. Charlize Theron, once again menacing and chilling as the evil queen, with less fragility and less humanity. Which is, in my book the worst fault of this movie: if one does decide to further develop the characters of the first movie, the starting point should've been the origins of Ravena's hate for all men, and of human emotions. The creative team didn't go this way, this in fact made Ravena a two dimensional cartoon. Only Charlize Theron brilliance manages to make her somewhat relatable. Then there's Jessica Chastain as Sara with a performance filled with subtleties and nuances, managing to look like a fierce warrior and still make us feel she has a beating heart in her chest. But both Jessica Chastain and Charlize Theron pale in front of the real standout performance of this film, that's the one of Emily Blunt. The truth is, she does have the best written role in the film, and she carries it and in fact the entire movie all the way through. If only they could do the same for Charlize Theron, this could've been a real something to see. But even as is, the movie is surprisingly engaging and entertaining.