There are many ludicrous aspects to this fairytale prequel, including the title. For a reimagining of Snow White that promptly abandons the story’s heroine in favour of a burly hunk, the name ignores the three major female roles. Hot on the heels of Mad Max: Fury Road, The Huntsman: Winter’s War begs the question, do audiences literally have to be tricked into seeing action films featuring women? What on earth are they going to title the upcoming Wonder Woman film? Perhaps Batman And Superman: Minor Characters.
It’s clear that while Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s visual style is impressive, his ability to create a cohesive narrative is sorely lacking. The overcomplicated plot, involving warring magical sisters (Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron, the latter a gloriously costumed cartoon of overacting), badly borrows from Frozen, Game Of Thrones, The Lord Of The Rings, Twilight and Narnia. It’s a film too violent for children, too sentimental for adults and, well, too awful for everyone.
Having said that, the elemental battle scenes are wonderfully
glitzy, as icicles and rivers of gold fight it out like outfits in RuPaul’s Drag Race.
In addition, Jessica Chastain and Chris Hemsworth fare fine as forest-dwelling warriors with non-specific Celtic accents, tasked with finding the Magic Mirror. However, the comic relief offered by their dwarf friends (Rob Brydon, Nick Frost and Sheridan Smith) is somewhat uncomfortable, due to the casting of average-sized actors, digitally altered to appear shorter. With a wealth of little people in the acting world and a dearth of roles, Winter’s War can’t even fantasise about empowerment.