REVIEW: ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ should have stayed frozen

If movie studio executives ever need an example of just how bad unnecessary sequels can be, they need look no further than “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”. This boring, bland sequel/spin-off promises an epic tale full of action and magic. Instead, we get a movie so boring, it should be used to help insomniacs fall asleep.

A follow-up to the surprisingly entertaining “Snow White and the Huntsman”, “Winter’s War” acts as both set-up and sequel to that film. It opens with the story of how the evil Ravenna (Charlize Theron) turned her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) into The Ice Queen. Heartbroken, Freya departs to set up her own kingdom in the North Country, and decides that conquering the world will mend her hurt.

Freya trains an army which includes our titular hero, Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and leather-clad butt-kicking beauty Sara (Jessica Chastain). These two love birds are torn apart only to wind up together on a hunt to keep the all-powerful Mirror on the Wall from falling into the wrong hands.

”Winter’s War” has a lot going for it. It’s following up a pretty solid first offering, it’s set in a visually arresting world, and it stars a really appealing cast. And, somehow, it winds up being an overly-talky snorefest that feels more like a bunch of scenes thrown together by a team of writers than a cohesive story.

Worse, the movie is so painfully boring. And every time something is about to happen, the action ends before it really gets going. What’s left is a lot of scenes where the characters sit around talking. And talking. And talking. And… well, you get the idea.

Perhaps the biggest sin “Winter’s War” commits is that it wastes a gifted cast. Hemsworth is the epitome of the modern movie star, dashing, handsome and charming. He gets the only witty dialogue in the movie and does a pretty good job with it, but he’s really there to beat people up and jump off cliffs.

The rest of the cast fares even worse. Jessica Chastain throws a lot of beatings, but her character is fairly emotionless. It’s to the point where when she has to be show feelings, it’s hard to buy. Theron is coming off stealing every frame of “Mad Max: Fury Road”, but here she mostly over-acts. And it takes an awful lot to make Blunt uninteresting, but this flick manages to pull it off. That may be the film’s biggest accomplishment.

There are a few mildly interesting action scenes and it’s always nice to see Nick Frost on the big screen, but for the most part, “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” feels like an unnecessary cash grab. It’s may have a good message about the perils of jealousy, but you’ll be too bored and sleepy to notice.

1 Indy Fedora out of 5

MPAA Rating: PG-13