Skip to footer

'The Huntsman,' a 'Snow White' prequel, stars a pricey cast

Imagination seems to have been frozen out of this attempt to capitalize on the success of 'Snow White and the Huntsman.'

|
Kevork Djansezian
Cast members Chris Hemsworth and Emily Blunt pose during the premiere of the film 'The Huntsman: Winter's War' in Los Angeles.
  • By Peter Rainer

Aside from the lucre to be made, there was no pressing reason for Hollywood to make a prequel (or is it a sequel?) to “Snow White and the Huntsman.” But lucre ever rules in La-La Land, and so we have “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” with a pricey cast including Chris Hensworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Jessica Chastain. (Missing in action is Kristen Stewart’s Snow White. Go figure.)

Theron’s murderous Ravenna, it turns out, has a sister, Blunt’s Freya, who possesses a Fantastic Four-style power that can turn anybody or anything into ice. She is, literally, an ice queen. Hemsworth and Chastain play the grown-up version of two of Freya’s abducted child soldiers. Theirs is supposed to be a love story of sorts, though they come across more like ninjas than romancers; in any case, the two stars don’t strike many sparks. (Too bad – a few sparks could melt all that ice a lot quicker.)

To be memorable, fairy tale extravangazas require outsize imaginations or else they just sit on the screen, as does this film, directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, which is a welter of computer effects and thudding action. May there be no more sequels, prequels, or remakes.

(C-)  

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'The Huntsman,' a 'Snow White' prequel, stars a pricey cast
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2016/0422/The-Huntsman-a-Snow-White-prequel-stars-a-pricey-cast
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe