'The Huntsman,' a 'Snow White' prequel, stars a pricey cast
Aside from the lucre to be made, there was no pressing reason for Hollywood to make a prequel (or is it a sequel?) to 鈥淪now White and the Huntsman.鈥� But lucre ever rules in La-La Land, and so we have 鈥淭he Huntsman: Winter鈥檚 War,鈥� with a pricey cast including Chris Hensworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Jessica Chastain. (Missing in action is Kristen Stewart鈥檚 Snow White. Go figure.)
Theron鈥檚 murderous Ravenna, it turns out, has a sister, Blunt鈥檚 Freya, who possesses a Fantastic Four-style power that can turn anybody or anything into ice. She is, literally, an ice queen. Hemsworth and Chastain play the grown-up version of two of Freya鈥檚 abducted child soldiers. Theirs is supposed to be a love story of sorts, though they come across more like ninjas than romancers; in any case, the two stars don鈥檛 strike many sparks. (Too bad 鈥� a few sparks could melt all that ice a lot quicker.)
To be memorable, fairy tale extravangazas require outsize imaginations or else they just sit on the screen, as does this film, directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, which is a welter of computer effects and thudding action. May there be no more sequels, prequels, or remakes.
(C-) 聽
