The Huntsman: Winter's War ... Frozen solid

LOVE, or the lack of it, permeates French director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's The Huntsman: Winter's

War, the sequel to Snow White and The Huntsman (2012), which became known for Kristen Stewart's affair with director Rupert Sanders. Nicolas-Troyan was the visual effects supervisor in the 2012 film, so viewers are assured of a deluge of special effects in the latest film.
   I found the special effects remarkably nondescript. The sight of someone creating a wall of ice or freezing someone has long lost its charm. And so's the sight of someone lashing out at people with tentacles.

   What about the action or fighting scenes? What's so engrossing about a burly guy taking on a few other burly guys in a pub? Why, even James Bond knocked out a few guys in an elevator, with greater alacrity, too. Does the aforementioned burly guy deserve brownie points for taking on a CGI bull-horned monster? Nope.
   And what about the film's attempt to repudiate someone's assertion  that "Love is a lie. It's a trick played on fools ... Do not love. It's a sin and I'll not forgive it."

Ice Queen and sis Snow White.

   The film then shows how huntsmen Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain) marry each other, and despite a long separation, meet each other again. Will they or won't they rekindle their passion for each other?
  Viewers won't have to crack their brains to figure out this answer.
  Even if the answer is obvious, will viewers feel the sparkle between the two? The film fails to demonstrate the necessary love between the two. It's as if both have been thrown together for the sake of being a romantic couple.
  The grand finale battle between Snow White (Charlize Theron) and her sister, Ice Queen Freya (Emily Blunt), is already known to viewers through the publicity team's use of a trailer that inexplicably shows the fight.
 
2 out of 5 stars

 

Sara's no Mockingjay.