![]() ![]() When she runs away to the north and appoints herself the Ice Queen of an isolated, arctic kingdom with an ice castle, I half expected Blunt to break out into her own rendition of "Let It Go." Given her singing talents seen in 'Into the Woods' and the events leading up to this point, I imagine she'd knock it out of the park. ![]() However, the fact the entire sequence feels familiar is precisely the problem with this production. Only twenty minutes into the movie and the whole thing sadly feels like a regurgitation of almost every epic film featuring a similar plot about the woes of true love. The script is by Craig Mazin, whose only work worth mentioning is the average ' Identity Thief,' and Evan Spiliotopoulos, whose background is in children's animation along with Brett Ratner's ' Hercules' and next year's live-action adaptation of 'Beauty of the Beast.' Not that their history should serve as the only determining factor of quality, but there is something to be said about their work showing little originality, which is disappointingly evidenced here. The plot is essentially a potpourri of grand, sweeping romances set against a fantastical, vaguely historical backdrop while at the same time, aspiring to be both a prequel and sequel, disgorging massive chunks of exposition for the entire first act so that the rest of the story makes sense as a direct follow-up. Apparently, just explaining that Ravenna had an equally evil, megalomaniac sister desiring the source of their magical powers is too simple. No, wait! That's too close to ' The Wizard of Oz.' Can't have that!Īnd yet, the filmmaker's blatantly borrow from other sources with no qualms. Long before Snow White was born - or least that's how I understood it - Freya creates a kingdom to match her icy heart and amasses an army of heartless huntsmen from kidnapped children, but years after her sister's defeat and death, she wants the Magic Mirror for herself and plans to invade the south. Aside from sounding like the drooling ambition of some 'Game of Thrones' fanfiction, the production sees Chris Hemsworth return as Eric in a forbidden, passionate love affair with Jessica Chastain's Sara, a fellow huntsman? Or is it, huntsperson? In either case, that subplot quickly unravels into a poor retelling of Mel Gibson's ' Braveheart' with Freya supplying her own version of "Prima Nocta" - as in, if she can't have any, no one else will - while Hemsworth and Chastain spout melodrama in laughably terrible Scottish accents. I'll admit, however, one aspect worth mentioning is the children convincingly playing younger versions of the two stars, but that's to the credit of casting directors. And sadly, the same can't be said of the script. Things only continue to devolve into utter dullness in 'The Huntsmen: Winter's War' when the two lovers later reunite and combine their talents for the same quest - which, by the way, is neither a surprise nor a spoiler thanks to previews. Their lame hero's journey is practically ripped from the pages of Tolkien's ' Lord of the Rings' series, going so far as to propound the golden mirror has the power to make others succumb to its dark spell and lust for power. ![]() Joining them are a pair of bearded dwarves played by Nick Frost and Rob Brydon, providing comedic relief and observing the less fair features of their female counterparts. The plot grows eye-rollingly worse when those said maidens conveniently appear, not only expanding the fellowship but also looking more like hobbits and assisting in a battle against goblins. Eventually, the story reaches its predictable climax in exactly the expected fashion, a couple twists and turns with Theron leading the charge but neither earned twists or satisfying turns. ![]()
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