One would be forgiven for exclaiming, ‘Ouch!’ at Fortune in-house film critic’s view of The Huntsman: Winter’s War as “a bunch of pretty actors in pretty clothes having a great time in a sound studio…” Apparently the movie deserved no more than three out of 10 stars.
According to modern conceptions of femininity, by all definitions, Queen Ravenna – Snow White’s evil stepmother – should be considered a champion of female emotional and cerebral fortitude. Misogynists, or people who have not seen the movie objectively, would point out that she is evil, and was a character solely created to show mankind’s obsession with physical beauty. But I passionately disagree; she strikes me as a fiercely independent, career oriented, imaginative woman who knows what she wants. Her vanity could be excused for determination to never let her monopoly falter in a male driven world that rewards prettiness over superior attributes such as insight, expertise and intelligence. All the things Snow White would, secretly, kill for.
I have always believed that if Ravenna asked the magic mirror, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the smartest of them all?” instead of her usual popular show of narcissism, the mirror would unequivocally and instantly answer, “You, of course, my Queen, even though you are 90 years old and awash with dementia.”
And what has Goody Two-Shoes Snow White ever done? She was, to begin with, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, thanks to her royal blood. Later on in life – after Ravenna learns of her impending beauty – the only reason she escapes is because the huntsman has mercy on her. She then survives the dark forest because the seven dwarfs (all men) take her in. At last, the Queen decides to personally do the job and put an end to the fluky princess by disguising herself and giving the young beauty a poisoned apple. Snow White glibly devours the apple, dies and is resurrected by a kiss from her Prince Charming. In the entire Grimm Brother’s catalogue, there is not a more aggravating character that gets to win in the end.
All of the above was depicted in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman in a very serious manner. The film had none of the sense of humour usually associated with Snow White and her dwarfs. How could it when it starred Kristin Stewart who was pretty enough, but nowhere that vulnerable, or most importantly, perky? And the huntsman played a larger role than in the fairy tale. But the film was dwarfed (pun intended) by its star’s (Stewart) cheating on her then boyfriend (Robert Pattinson) with the movie’s director (Rupert Sanders), and the Hollywood rumour-mongering that followed.
I could not say that I was sad that the film was mostly overlooked due to the scandal, because it was not any good. It was a minor success, nonetheless, at the box office, and the producers were quick to green light a sequel. But over the years, the sequel turned into a spinoff where the movie ended up revolving around the huntsman, and we hear nothing of Snow White.
The huntsman, now a legend in the war to take down the Queen, wants nothing more than to distance himself from the incident and lead a stable life. But Snow White, now a queen herself, sends word that the mirror, which was the source of her evil stepmother’s powers, has disappeared. She fears that the mirror has fallen into the wrong hands and could be used to yet again bring destruction to her empire.
Indeed the mirror is in danger of being usurped by the Ice Queen – Ravenna’s younger, less evil sister. This persuades the huntsman to set off on an excursion to get the mirror before the Ice Queen does; because if she does, she would be powerful enough to threaten Snow White’s realm. Of course he does not make the journey all by himself; as this is a movie, there needs to be a comic relief and a love interest for the protagonist. Winter’s War is as formulaic as they get. Along the way, he is assisted by two of the seven dwarfs from the previous movie, two other female dwarfs and a former huntsman companion of his.
The film begins with a very long introduction to the Ice Princess and how she came by her powers and her empire. It introduces the huntsman haphazardly, as if he was of little consequence. As if no one entered a movie theatre without reading a plot summary. Thirty minutes into the film, it was not clear who the protagonist was though.
I would love to name the numerous ways Winter’s War gets the actual art of storytelling wrong, but I am not writing a book here. As dreary as the previous film was, this one is worse. It takes everything we hated about the first film and builds upon it. The only thing that is missing is a more annoying celebrity love affair. But Winter’s War, at least, is more optimistic, probably because it does not star Stewart, who finds it just as hard to give a good performance as it is to smile.
Winter’s War stars Chris Hemsworth, who generally strives to give a lovable performance instead of a good one. But at least he does better than Theron who plays Ravenna. Even though generally a much better performer than Hemsworth, Theron looked like she was doing a two-hour long perfume commercial. All evidence from her much acclaimed performances (Monster down to Mad Max: Fury Road) suggests that Theron does a better job when sticking to characters much less beautiful than herself.
Rounding up the cast are the likes of such impressive actress as Emily Blunt (the Ice Princess) and Jessica Chastain. Both – brazen actresses who are not afraid to take on unglamorous roles – do their very best to make us believe that this is serious art, or at least chic entertainment. But it is too obvious what all of this is – a bunch of pretty actors in pretty clothes having a great time in a sound studio for a movie that would obviously not showcase their talents but will definitely pay the bills for their ostentatious life styles. Some of them might even donate to charity.
Leave a Reply