Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (12a)
Synopsis
Set just before the events in Snow White and the Huntsman, the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) as a child is abducted by the Ice Queen Freya (Emily Blunt), who has turned into a cold-hearted megalomaniac after her lover (Colin Morgan) has killed their baby daughter in a fire.
The Huntsman grows up to become a skilled warrior, part of Freya's army of child soldiers who help her capture neighbouring kingdoms.
He is thrown out however when he falls in love with Sara (Jessica Chastain). Years later, they meet up again when she is recruited to retrieve the magic mirror in which Freya's sister the evil Ravenna (Charlize Theron) is trapped following her battle with Snow White.
Review by Jason Day
A sequel (and, in part, prequel) to the 2012 blockbuster Snow White and the Huntsman, most famous for the headlines it generated when news leaked that leading lady Kristen Stewart had an affair with director Rupert Sanders, torpedoing her relationship with Robert Pattinson.
No great shakes that she isn't featured in this film, as the casting agents managed to nab the far more interesting Chastain as a muscular, Amazonian, more-than-just-a-sidekick for Hemsworth, who is a slightly more muscular Huntsman as they traipse through a prettily realised fairy tale world readily familiar for those who saw the previous installment.
Chastain's Scottish accent may be slightly more appalling than Hemsworth's, but at least she is game enough to try.
Sheridan Smith's able comic support as a foul-mouthed female dwarf and even better is Blunt as a Queen so devoid of emotion it even stretches to her clothes tinkling like icicles in the wind as she moves.
The main fault is with a story whose plot holes are so wide and obvious, it's surprising the film didn't fall into them during production.
The lack of new ideas and situations can make this a bore at times, but it looks good and has a snappy humour, which the cast enthusiastically engage with.
For more, read the full review: http://cinesocialuk.com/2016/04/08/the-huntsman-winters-war-2016-happily-ever-after-or-just-a-fairy-tall-tale-read-our-review-for-more/
Listings for this and other films at Cineworld MK: http://www1.cineworld.co.uk/cinemas/milton-keynes
Cast & credits
Producers: Joe Roth.
Writers: Evan Spiliotopoulos, Craig Mazin.
Camera: Phedon Papamichael.
Music: James Newton-Howard.
Sets: Dominic Watkins.
Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, Sam Claflin, Sope Dirisu, Colin Morgan.
