A trailer for “The Huntsman Winter’s War” has dropped, and as The Ice Queen (Emily Blunt), a new addition to the franchise, announces, “If it’s a fairy tale you’re hoping for, prepare yourself for so much more.”
We were deeply unimpressed when news arrived that a sequel to “Snow White and the Huntsman,” the 2012 action-oriented feminist revision of the classic story, would go on without its heroine protagonist. We observed that, like her “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke before her, Kristen Stewart was pushed out of the franchise she made happen.
At that point, the spinoff was simply to be called “The Huntsman,” centering on Chris Hemsworth’s blank hunk.
Then word came that Blunt and Jessica Chastain were joining the cast.
The trailer for “The Huntsman Winter’s War” indicates that the film isn’t really about the huntsman after all. Instead, it seems as though he remained part of the title for convenience’s sake alone (because audiences familiar with the franchise associated that name with the follow-up).
In fact, the plot looks like it’ll focus on the huntsman and three other characters, all of whom are female: Charlize Theron’s reprisal of Ravenna, Blunt’s Ice Queen and Chastain as The Warrior.
Two mighty warriors (Chastain and Hemsworth) take on the evil Ice Queen and her equally evil older sister Ravenna, a terrible twosome in search of a powerful mirror that will bring them more power. With the mirror’s help, they can further oppress those they rule over. Their ambition is rivaled only by their mercilessness. “Men have forgotten what it means to be afraid. We will bring fear,” says The Ice Queen, much to the delight of Ravenna. (It seems like the two are destined to duke it out for ultimate control.)
The Huntsman is pretty much overshadowed by these kickass women, which just goes to show how necessary their presence is to the film. They are what’s interesting about it. Just look at the posters below. Three out of four of them capture our attention, while the remaining one looks like 500 other posters we’ve already seen. (To be clear, this isn’t a dig against Hemsworth or his performance — we’re just really, really used to seeing action movies about dudes.)
“The Huntsman Winter’s War” opens April 22, 2016.
