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MOVIE REVIEW

'Huntsman' has no game

April 23, 2016

Hot off the heels of the spectacular “Jungle Book” live-action remake comes “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” a sequel to another big-budget epic with literary roots.

“Snow White and the Huntsman” was released in 2012, and apparently earned Universal just enough for the studio to try to squeeze out a few more dollars from its audience.

But where “Jungle” has created a new world with a vibrant vision, this “Huntsman” feels dated, tired and wholly unnecessary as it thuds into theaters with all the appeal of a poisoned apple.

To make matters worse, there is not a trace of Snow White anywhere. Not that Kristen Stewart’s Nyquil-soaked performance in the first was of any value, but trying to build an action franchise out of a princess-led fairy tale without the princess herself feels like a desperate amalgam of fairy tale trappings, “Game of Throne” set designs, “Frozen” fantasy, with a little “Hobbit” thrown in for good measure.

It’s curious that despite the many ingredients “Huntsman” throws in, the result is as bland as it is. Even stranger still is how this film managed to attract so many big names to its roster with such a dull, derivative tale to tell.

Despite the marketing materials declaring this “the story before Snow White,” the bulk of “The Huntsman” takes place after the ending of the last film. The narrator (Liam Neeson) informs us that Eric (played by Chris Hemsworth) joins forces with his wife Sara (Jessica Chastain) to defeat the Ice Queen Freya (played by Emily Blunt), the frosty sister to Ravena (once again played by Charlize Theron). Both Eric and Sara were once once a part of Freya’s child army who were being trained for world dominance.

Along the way, they befriend diminutive comedic sidekicks, computer-generated beasts and bad Scottish accents. Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan served as visual effects supervisor for the original “Snow White” film, and his penchant for creating visually rich set pieces is evident. But the story beneath seems to be from some fantasy-writing software that spits out randomly generated cliches from any number of far-better films.

Elves, orcs, polar bear-ish beasts, mythical quests, mystical powers, all come and go without much excitement or explanation. Instead, it’s meant to pad an otherwise trite and tired narrative that makes up its rules as it rolls along.

The result is a buildup to a battle in which there are no winners, as we are given nothing in which to invest emotionally. We instead are led along like a reluctant child being dragged through a shopping mall.

With only the slightest of ties to the original story from which it was born, it’s clearly evident that this “Huntsman” has no game.

 

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