The Huntsman: Winter's War

This review may contain spoilers!

This film has a great, standout cast but is unfortunately bogged down by a rather tame plot. I would give The Huntsman: Winter's War a 7/10.

This film is not the high stakes fantasy film that I was expecting and that alone resulted in some problems; however I quickly came to appreciate what the film actually was. This film is a character story; The Huntsman, his wife and the Ice Queen are all given a great amount of focus in this film. I think this movie is worth seeing at the very least because the characters are so entertaining and brilliantly delivered by the cast. The score for this film is pretty good, it can be forgettable at times but it really made it's impact in the scenes that count. The cinematography for this film also looked really good, there were a lot of moments where the film paused for a bit and just observed it's surroundings which was great. The special effects were very well done, particularly any effects around the Ice Queen or the mirror (heck even the goblins looked alright). However the best part of the film was without a doubt the fight choreography, I haven't seen such fast moving action in a while and it looked brilliant.

Chris Hemsworth, who played The Huntsman, is a brilliant lead in this film; his comedic banter with other characters is great to see and he looks like he's genuinely having a lot of fun with this performance. Emily Blunt, who played Freya, proves again why she is one of my favourite actresses at the moment; the amount of pain and misery she portrays in this film is masterfully done. Charlize Theron, who played Ravenna, is still a great antagonist in these films; she has a terrifying capacity to just seem murderous whether it be through her line delivery or just how she moves on set. Nick Frost, who played Nion, is actually really entertaining in this film; Frost is a brilliant source of comedic relief. Liam Neeson, who voiced the Narrator, rescues the prequel segment of the film somewhat; the heavy exposition becomes a lot more bearable through his great line delivery.

However the best performance came from Jessica Chastain, who played Sara. Chastain is really delivering some consistent A grade performances lately; first The Martian, then Crimson Peak and now in The Huntsman. I think it's fair to say that while this film might be titled Huntsman it is by no means solely about him; in fact I was really enjoying the scenes that focussed upon the character of Sara. Chastain has an incredible presence in this film and her character's rough exterior masks a lot of pain. A really well performed and engaging character.

This film is not just a prequel about the Huntsman but also a sequel following Snow White And The Huntsman; while I've seen some films pull off the pre-aequel in the past, The Huntsman is certainly not one of them. The prequel is crammed with exposition and you get very bored due to the amount of information dumped upon you. Once the film turns to sequel there are further issues, namely the quest for the mirror. This quest that drives the story feels more like an errand than a high stakes plot, even when Ravenna emerges from the mirror you don't feel like the stakes have been raised significantly. The editing for this film was rather jarring in places, it let down the otherwise great visual style immensely.

Sam Claflin, who played William, is an interesting character to show from the first film; Claflin wasn't very impressionable in the first film nor is his appearance that great in this one (particularly because we'd much rather see Kristen Stewart). Sheridan Smith, who played Mrs Bromwyn, exists to remind us that the dwarf characters are usually the most annoying part of these Huntsman films; Smith lacked comedic talent and the film could have really done without her presence. Alexandra Roach, who played Doreena, lacked a strong screen presence in this film; she had no focus and the romance between her and Frost was a bit forced. Rob Brydon, who played Gryff, didn't have the comedic ability to match Frost in this film; in fact his line delivery tended to fall flat more often than not. Sope Dirisu, who played Tull, was a very physical character who never really got any focus in this film; there should have been a couple of scenes that at the very least detailed his relationship with Sara and the Huntsman. Conrad Khan and Niamh Walter, who played The Huntsman and Sara as children respectively, should have been given more actual dialogue in this film; I would have loved to see and understand these children and their experiences as kids rather than have Neeson's narration quickly skip over it.