The Huntsman: Winter's War Poster

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

Action | Drama 
Rayting:   6.1/10 98.8K votes
Country: USA | China
Language: English
Release date: 7 April 2016

Eric and fellow warrior Sara, raised as members of ice Queen Freya's army, try to conceal their forbidden love as they fight to survive the wicked intentions of both Freya and her sister Ravenna.

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artmania90 1 February 2017

It's astounding how bad "Huntsman: Winter's War" is. From the preposterous title (it would appear that the story occurs in springtime, and that the one battle in the film is a tiny 10-person battle in a throne room) to the absolute lack of reason, sense, or skill, this coldly-received sequel to an already flawed film (Snow White & the Huntsman) is like finding a diamond in the rough in terms of bad movies. In a way it's almost good how bad it is. Almost.

The movie is narrated by Liam Neeson with empty phrases like "lands to the North" and "the Good Queen built a fortress around her heart." We meet the Evil Queen from the first movie (the absurdly over-the-top Charlize Theron who is the only fun role in the film) and her sister, Elsa -- I mean Freya, a woman who's heart was broken and uses her ice powers to turn her hair white, adopt an icy wardrobe, and reign in an ice castle on top of a mountain. Her ultimate character arc is the discovery that love can ultimately be a good thing. She didn't even have to sing "Let It Go" to figure it out.

Simultaneously we have a remake of "Braveheart" occurring, as we meet the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth reprising his titular role) and his love affair with fellow huntswoman, Sara (with an off-again on-again Scottish accent). Declaring their love for one another in a forbidden encounter, the Huntsman all but states that he "wants to raise crops and God- willing a family" with his new lover. A stroke of misfortune leads him to believe Sara is brutally murdered, and thus the war is launched. I mean the battle that takes place in the last 3 minutes of the movie.

In reality, the plot seems to be about the group of heroes (the Huntsman, some of the dwarfs from the first film (whoever wanted to come back, I guess), and some other female dwarfs) on the hunt for the Magic Mirror, hoping to find it before Evil Queen Freya reclaims it for herself. Like the ruby slippers, it's said to have dangerous powers, but I am sure as hell unaware of what those powers could be (aside from being able to judge the hotness level of women like a caddy bitch). Why this is so important is never explained, nor are any of the plot details seemingly relevant at any one point. The story is vapid, lifeless, thrown together. As I was watching this film, things kept happening, but overall nothing was occurring. I began to doubt the reasoning for this movie's existence other than an attempts for a cash grab (the original made over $400 million in sales... This one barely made $160 million against a budget of $115 million. Ouch).

If you need an example of what is wrong with the Hollywood system right now, then "Huntsman" seems to be a textbook example. From the overly-choreographed fight scenes, Lord of the Ring's-inspired mythology (which seems to be the standard for fantasy films nowadays), and the rehashing of characters both living and dead with no regard to story (how many times can Charlize Theron come back to life without absolutely flushing brain power down the toilet?), the film churns along from one predictable beat to the next, and by the time it ends it's hard to remember that there are actually decent movies made anymore. To watch "Huntsman: Winter's War" is to lobotomize a part of your brain. Movies can be art, and they can be moving, and they can be thrilling. This movie is the cinematic equivalent of expired milk.

Netsco 24 April 2016

Fmovies: In a time where it is very common to see a lot of negativity and cynicism in reality and depicted on screen, it is a relief to watch an optimistic fantasy film with beautiful sets, visual effects, and morals.

The film's cast is well put together as the actors are all very enjoyable to watch. None of the actors seemed to be miscast or stood out because of poor acting. The relationships between the characters are interesting, although some are slightly disappointing because they aren't as developed as they could be.

The dwarfs are definitely the lighter characters who I also found to be pretty adorable, and they get the most laughs out of the audience. The heroes of the story are both interesting and break the usual tradition of having the male character be the hardened one, and the female character be soft. It's incredible to see Chris Hemsworth's character be strong and heroic but also have such a kind and compassionate side to him. The types of heroes that stories have to offer nowadays are typically stoic and quite cold, so seeing that warm side in a modern male protagonist is amazing, and I hope that future stories will also present male protagonists who can show similar emotion and vulnerability. Jessica Chastain's character is truly a badass, and one that didn't seem like a forced badass to me, which I find to be a usual complaint.

Despite being villains, the two queen characters of the movie had touching, and surprising moments of humanity later on in the story. With that said, it is very fun to watch Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron play larger-than-life personalities and do cruel deeds throughout the film. You will find yourself rooting for them because they can be relatable, but also because they are wicked, you have to want them to fall. The only flaw I found with them is that they did not have enough screen time, but it doesn't take away from the film as the other characters keep you entertained as well.

The story is simple, easy to follow, and is enough to keep you engaged. The concept of love is what is being explored in the film, and the story could even be a cautionary tale about the effects of having a lack of love. In the end, the message of love conquering the evils of the world isn't anything ground-breaking, but I think that it is a simple and universal idea that is still effective and powerful even today if you open yourself up to it. Being a big fan of the first film, I went into this with low expectations but an open mind.

Thankfully, the film did not disappoint and I recommend seeing it on a large screen to appreciate the beauty of the effects and the costumes, but also be touched by the message that the film offers.

ayoreinf 5 June 2016

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.

Quinoa1984 23 April 2016

The Huntsman: Winter's War fmovies. The Huntsman: Winter's War is not too unlike the first movie in one key way: it doesn't really stick too long in the consciousness once it's finished. It's not that there is a lack of quality in the craft in this (sigh) franchise - the first Snow White from 2012 got Oscar nominations for the costume design and visual effects departments, and it's easy to see why: the work put into the mirror on its own, this gold thing that can unfold in liquid on the floor is in the same ball-park as the T-1000 from decades past, and there is attention paid to all of the aesthetics in these 'kingdoms'. But with the stories, especially in the case of Winter's War, there is the sense of sensing a dearth of original plots. It's not even really a full plot in this film but plot points: this happens and then this happens and then and then and so on, and it cribs from Frozen so much that it's hard to ignore.

It's not that everything from the Disney movie is here, but when you start to describe what this story is about - two sisters in royalty are split apart when one of them (Emily Blunt this time as the sister to Charlize Theron's Wicked Queen) loses her son and takes over her kingdom... which is made of ice since she is the Ice Queen, and she decrees there can no longer be love because her love is lost, so then when two people (Hemsworth, returning as the Huntsman, and Jessica Chastain) fall in love, she splits them apart through trickery and then... it's actually not a prequel but a sequel which involves finding the mirror from the last movie (stolen/taken away, I forget which, it's explained in an exposition dump), and when a big reveal happens for Hemsworth that (spoiler! not really) Chastain is alive, they decide to go after the Ice Queen herself.

So there's a lot of plot here, a lot of twists and turns that do occur, but that main spine isn't too engaging. The Frozen element comes mostly with the Ice Queen and other characters having a love story happen where you don't expect it to (or, I should say, they *do* love each other, but things happen that makes one of them question again if it's possible and, oh, nevermind). What does still work is the humor; Nick Frost returns as one of the dwarfs from the last movie (the late Bob Hoskins is sorely missed though) along with Rob Brydon (remember him from The Trip movies), and both are spot-on with their comic timing, their deliveries, just finding the things in the scenes to naturally liven things up. Some of it's from the dialog, but a good deal of it feels improvised and when lady dwarfs get introduced into the film there's some fun stuff there as well.

All the actors are here to work, and I didn't see them exactly bored during this; Blunt does her best to give her Ice Queen Freya conviction and villainy (and, later on, some sense of true confusion and betrayal), but it's hard to go up against Theron when she owns this role once again of Ravenna. She's not on screen too long, and it feels just slightly contrived how she returns, but she makes her mark as a conniving, devilish presence with aplomb. Curiously Kirsten Stewart is out of this movie, though there are points where it feels like she *should* be in this, even as a cameo (there is one scene where technically Snow White is featured, but it's a double of course). This absence gets felt in a narrative that is all about the other characters, which is fine, except that the script lets them down with an adventure-cum-quest-cum-reve

missashton92 6 April 2016

The Huntsman: Winter's War is great fodder for fans of the genre; the slenderly plotted film moves along at a nice pace and the cast do a decent job with what they're given. Although it's undoubtedly a cash-grab sequel (do not believe the "before Snow White" marketing), it manages to argue its case for existing fairly well. Contractual obligations aside, Hemsworth and Theron resume their roles with great gusto, with Hemsworth arguably vastly improving on his performance in the first film. Throw in Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain and you're confronted with a pretty enviable - if surprising - cast for a film of this level.

The basic driving plot of the film is centred on Eric's (the previously anonymous Huntsman from the first outing) dubiously arranged quest to locate and return the powerful magic mirror, before it falls into the wrong (icy) hands. Accompanied by some foul-mouthed dwarfs, the scenes in the forests and fields are probably some of the better sequences in the film, if only for their tonal consistency rather than their originality. These portions of the film focus on action and comedy, and the camaraderie comes across well enough.

This quest is framed at both the start and end of the film by a strange and rather hastily delivered - yet nonetheless enjoyable - story of two sisters and a sad betrayal. Ravenna (Theron) and Freya (Blunt) are supposedly the closest of siblings who become parted by a very dark event that awakens a great power within Freya. Fleeing her sister's kingdom in a mix of despair, anger and confusion, Freya sets up home in the mysterious "North" and uses her new strength to gather children to train as her army. It is here that the two stories are tied together, with stolen children Eric and Sara (Chastain) growing to become two of her trusted Huntsmen. The scenes in the North are mostly effective and judiciously used; the muted colour palette here isn't allowed to become boring, and this mini saga is undoubtedly uplifted by Blunt's delicate performance.

If you have seen the trailers for this film and are keen to experience the full thing, go in with realistic expectations and you'll have a fun two hours; I am certain that the vast majority of prominent critics will despise this film, but it wasn't made for them. Yes, it's a patchwork production of popular elements from other sources and is generally a rather campy affair, but that's what makes it such an inoffensive and entertaining film. There is plenty to like here, if you give it a chance.

lajospn 23 April 2016

I don't know why people complain about this one. I went in expecting a fantasy romp with beautiful but evil queens ... and that's exactly what I got! In spades! The other thing that stood out is that the actors are all top shelf. For guys like me, seeing *three* of the most gorgeous actresses appear together (Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain) in a movie is a feast for the eyes. And they all can act! The supporting cast is great (bunch of awesome British guys) as well. The dialog is light- hearted and the love story believable. On top of all this, the story is pretty linear and makes sense. (In a fairy tale-way, of course, but what do you expect?) Most surprisingly, I did feel emotionally attached to the characters. Each had clear motivations and I felt for their plight. Lovers get separated then reunited, a mother loses a child and something snaps inside her, an evil queen wants revenge and power.

Overall, I can only recommend this movie. You won't get bored for a second and might even get emotional by the end.

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