Movie of the Week: The Huntsman: Winter's War

[jacey]

Both a prequel and a sequel, this movie wraps itself around Snow White and the Huntsman, made better by the lack of Snow White, who is not on screen. It's a kind of grown up 'Frozen' with two sisters, each with different magical powers. Ravenna is the evil queen from Snow White, not quite as dead as we thought. Her sister, Freya, horribly betrayed by her lover, turns out to have ice magic. She runs off and sets up her own kingdom (queendom?) harvesting children and turning them into warriors to be her army.

And that's where Eric, the Huntsman, comes in. He's one of Freya's children - along with Sarah, fellow warrior, whom he eventually falls for. They are separated and, believeing her to be dead, he goes off, gets drunk and the whole of the Snow White movie happens. And then there's the aftermath when Ravenna and Freya meet and eventually clash - with Eric and four dwarves caught in the middle.

I'm trying not to give away too many spoilers. Chris Hemsworth is suitably rugged as The Huntsman. Charlize Theron reprises her role as Ranvenna. Sheridan Smith, Rob Brydon, Nick Frost and Alexandra Roach play the short-stature parts. Sheridan Smith and Rob Brydon are particularly good.

While it won't set the world on fire, it was an entertaining Wednesday afternoon, slightly better than its predecessor.