Saw the trailer before In The Heart Of The Sea on Saturday...looks like a lot more greenscreen/studio stuff this time around, which is disappointing, because one of the chief pleasures of the first one was seeing a modern-day fantasy movie shot in real, beautiful locations. Still, with a trio of lovely and talented leading ladies plus Hemsworth, I'll still give this a shot.

Varety review -- confirming the vibe that's given off by the trailer:

Spare a thought for Snow White: So casually has she been written out of “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” that even Queen Ravenna’s all-knowing mirror, when called upon to name the fairest of them all, omits her as a contender. Vague excuses are made for her absence from a film that awkwardly positions itself as both prequel and sequel to the Goth-lite derring-do of 2012’s “Snow White and the Huntsman,” though perhaps Snow skimmed Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin’s perfunctory script and reasonably decided she couldn’t be bothered.

In her (and Kristen Stewart’s) place, a Katniss Everdeen-styled Jessica Chastain steps into the breach, fighting for good alongside Chris Hemsworth’s eponymous hero — this time against two wicked-queen combatants in Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt, whose glittery sisterly feud would have made for an adequate spinoff vehicle on its own. Even their doubled-up diva-tude, however, can’t ignite a rhythmically flat, seemingly committee-helmed franchise outing that never decides on its dramatic center.

http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/th ... 201742727/

Reviews for this are pretty poisonous...16% on RT. With such a trouser-tightening female cast and another James Newton Howard score that's supposed to be an improvement on the first film, I'll still be checking it out (plus, what the hell else is out right now to watch before Civil War?), but I'm not expecting much. Drew McWeeny has been Tweeting about how "baffled" he is that this was made in the first place, and I can't really blame him...yeah, the first one was a modest hit, but it's also a film that has had zero cultural impact, aside from a handful of admirers like Andy and I who appreciated the film's "analog" use of actual locations instead of all-greenscreen, all the time CGI overkill. It'd be like if they released a Willow sequel in 1992.

It's kind of like this: TRON LEGACY did better yet Disney pulled the plug, while Universal kept going with this, Warner Bros. kept going with CLASH OF THE TITANS 2, etc. Modest hits still bring in a lot of coin for most studios...the issue is Disney just wants properties that can bring in a billion, not millions. So goodbye TRON 3, hello to endless STAR WARS and Marvel movies until nobody wants to see another one. Universal on the other hand will make sequels wherrever and whenever they are an option.

However I'm not surprised this didn't pan out. I think the real conceptual issue is -- the first movie was SNOW WHITE. Now it's a prequel/sequel and it doesn't even have the main character in it. That alone is weird. Plus it looks like it was essentially packaged by bean counters and focus groups. "Bring back Charlize even though she's dead," "let's use Hemsworth because he's Thor," "let's make it look like FROZEN," etc. Was there anything in this movie that came out of the creative process of filmmakers, or was it assembled -- as I assume it was -- by Universal executives?

And what is a recent Oscar winner like Jessica Chastain end doing in this film? I assume it's just for the money, but they've already got two other actresses slumming in Theron and Blunt, so being the third female lead in a marginal prequel nobody wants to see...couldn't she have cashed in starring in a more promising looking studio POS? I'd look at switching agents if I were her.

Here's an interesting take I can appreciate...

Back in 2012, a movie called Snow White and the Public Domain IP unexpectedly made almost $400 million. And that’s why today sees the release of a second film, Huntsman: The Contractual Obligation Movie (although for some reason the posters call it The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Go figure.) The Contractual Obligation Movie is about as bad as you’d expect, but it’s also surprisingly, insanely fun.

The startling thing about The Contractual Obligation Movie is what a brilliant cast it musters. Chris Hemsworth is back as the Huntsman (because he was contractually obligated), and so is Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna. But also, Emily Blunt plays Queen Ravenna’s sister, Queen Freya, and Jessica Chastain plays the Huntsman’s long lost wife, Sara. Plus Nick Frost is back as a dwarf.

The film’s story, which I will not spoil (or really, attempt to explain) here, is something that would have been tailor-made for a direct-to-DVD spinoff, with all the lead roles recast with actors from Heroes and Smallville. It has that exact feeling to it, from the overwrought opening voiceover to the wobbly ending. The fact that we get to see this pointless, silly movie made with an A-list cast, instead, is one of the great marvels of our age, and is something that we should all be profoundly grateful for.

...and

If you enjoy terrible fun, you should consider yourself obligated to check out The Contractual Obligation Movie.*

http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-huntsman-win ... 1772432235

7.5/10

Well, what the hell...why are critics holding their noses over something that's actually enjoyable? Considering the lousy reviews, I actually had a surprisingly good time watching this. It looked great, the trio of gorgeous leading ladies are fine (although Theron is in barely fifteen minutes' worth of screentime, so this was obviously an easy paycheck for her), Hemsworth holds it together with his brawny charisma, and there's actual humor. The (modest) audience at my afternoon matinee was laughing at several points, and on the heels of the dour, joyless Batman V Superman, it was heartening to see a "contractual obligation" sequel that was colorful, brisk and fun to sit through. There are odd omissions (Snow White is basically given a "Fake Shemp" treatment, a body double for Kirsten Stewart looking into the mirror at one point and never revealing her face...says a lot about the current state of her career that she couldn't even secure a perk cameo) and continuity gaffes (didn't Theron's Ravena have a brother in the first movie...that sickly, albino-looking dude? He's not mentioned at all in this film, and suddenly Ravena has a previously-unmentioned sister), but overall this is certainly enjoyable stuff for anyone who liked the original, and you wonder why critics had such a hardon for tearing this particular film to shreds, unless it was just to pile on and top each others' "A sequel to Snow White & The Huntsman? WHY?" putdowns. This movie may be "pointless", but it's certainly fun, and James Newton Howard's score is an improvement on his work for the first film (which was marred by those blocky Zimmer "power chords" that crept into his action music post-Batman Begins), with more expressive melodies. Yeah, it borrows shamelessly from a myriad of popular sources (Hunger Games, Frozen), but when it's as entertaining as this, why carp?

Thanks for the review MJ, I will see it when it comes to the home screen. Judging from the gross this weekend, looks like they either shouldn't have bothered, or moved it to another time of year. JUNGLE BOOK is like a steamroller right now.

I wonder if Kristen Stewart wasn't signed for more than 1 picture. As much as she's derided by some, the lack of her and that role in a sequel to what was her movie couldn't have helped.

Also, I think it's time everyone out there rethought Chris Hemsworth as a leading man/marquee name/whatever. I'm sure they thought "hey we've got Hemsworth, we don't need her," which judging from the constant flop his starring vehicles have taken, makes you wonder where his career is going. He's turned into Chris Pine, basically. Whether it's BLACKHAT, RUSH, RED DAWN, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, or now this, he can't open a film, period (we'll discount his supporting turn in VACATION, though it did nothing seemingly to help that picture's mediocre gross either).

As both of us have mentioned, nobody cares about him unless he's playing Thor, and my guess is it really doesn't matter who's playing Thor, either.

Monterey Jack wrote:There are odd omissions and continuity gaffes (didn't Theron's Ravena have a brother in the first movie...that sickly, albino-looking dude? He's not mentioned at all in this film, and suddenly Ravena has a previously-unmentioned sister)

Watched the first one again tonight, and man...it's like NO ONE involved in writing this pre-sequel bothered to sit down with the first movie and take notes. That albino brother guy to Ravena? He actually insinuates to Hemsworth that he was present at his wife's death (and may have committed her murder himself), and he DOES NOT APPEAR AT ALL in Winter's War. And Hemsworth talks about "being away during the wars" and coming home to find his wife had died, and THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AT ALL in the new film. And there was a flashback in the first film showing (vaguely) how Ravena got her powers by her witch(?) of a mother giving her the blessing/curse of eternal youth and beauty, and yet it doesn't jibe at all with how that the "members of our bloodline" (i.e. Blunt's sister) gains her powers. It's honestly some of the most slipshod franchise continuity I can recall since the Friday The 13th or Halloween sequels, and back in the 80's, VHS was still a new thing, so it wasn't actually that easy to play "catch-up" by renting the previous movie(s) to find out what you missed (plus, the audience for those films obviously cared more about seeing another foam rubber torso run through with a machete than obeying any sense of logical or coherent storytelling). Hey, I still dug Winter's War just fine, but, in this day and age of microscopic nitpicking, you'd think that someone would have given the screenplay a cursory examination and went, "Waitaminute..."

Also...random LIAM NEESON narration? He isn't even billed for the work.

AndyDursin wrote: Also, I think it's time everyone out there rethought Chris Hemsworth as a leading man/marquee name/whatever. I'm sure they thought "hey we've got Hemsworth, we don't need her," which judging from the constant flop his starring vehicles have taken, makes you wonder where his career is going. He's turned into Chris Pine, basically. Whether it's BLACKHAT, RUSH, RED DAWN, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, or now this, he can't open a film, period (we'll discount his supporting turn in VACATION, though it did nothing seemingly to help that picture's mediocre gross either).

As charismatic as I find Hemsworth, he hasn't really "branched out" in the way that, say, Hugh Jackman has post-X-Men...Jackman can play superhero roles, but he's also adept at straight drama and light comedy, whereas Hemsworth has a very narrow range as a performer. After Hemsworth has reached the end of his Marvel contract, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't do a quick fade and just retire or else find a cushy job on TV or something (he'll certainly be rich enough by then).

As charismatic as I find Hemsworth, he hasn't really "branched out" in the way that, say, Hugh Jackman has post-X-Men...Jackman can play superhero roles, but he's also adept at straight drama and light comedy, whereas Hemsworth has a very narrow range as a performer.

Yeah there's no comparison there. Jackman is a hugely talented stage performer who is every bit at home doing musicals (if not more so!) as he is making Wolverine. Hemsworth is just a bloke from Down Under with a nice smile and a sense of humor, but does not seem to project anything more than what we've seen from his initial performance as Thor. And I give him credit, he was good in the role, but it's been a one-trick pony and it certainly does not seem to interest audiences beyond it.

One other thing...the girl who played young Snow White in the prologue of the first film (and who looks NOTHING like Stewart, BTW) is the same girl who later co-starred with George Clooney in Tomorrowland.