Review of The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016) by Matthew F. J — 13 Jan 2017

Having not seen the previous film of the franchise, I entered the film neutral of any comparisons.

Immediately I enjoyed the film's tone, it's a fairy tale and it happens to contain some characters well known. Apart from that, it's a bit of a mishmash of different universes all combined into one to create an interesting action / adventure film, similar to what was being made in the 80's. I will praise the great amount of natural sets and funny second characters, they bring a certain light-hardheartedness to the film, since Charlyze Theron and Emily blunt go full on for the more baroque array of interpretation with low voices and slow pacing of their lines. Nevertheless, the film manages to have a certain fairy tale-ness that makes it very compelling once you stop comparing it with previous films. As a standalone children/teenagers type of film, it's actually really well done, well shot and filled with an uplifting message. I'm on board.