It certainly takes a bit of hubris to make a sequel to a movie that no one particularly cared for in the first place. But Universal is really going to the hoop with "Snow White And The Huntsman" sequel "The Huntsman Winter’s War." Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt have joined Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart has been removed, and while the title doesn’t make much sense (as Katie Walsh wondered, is the Huntsman’s last name Winter? is the season of winter possessive of war?) the movie is promising an even bigger fairy-tale saga.
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, visual effects supervisor on the first film, graduates to the director’s chair this time around, with the story dealing with some evil people who want to stop the power or love. Or something. Here’s the official synopsis:
Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen — including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain) — only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love.
When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable…unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.
With this cast, I’ll be forced to watch this thing, but let’s hope the results are a bit more satisfying the second time around. "The Huntsman Winter’s War" opens on April 22, 2016.
