"Love ends in betrayal. Always."
Hey everyone!
Namely, the prequel/sequel to Snow White, which starred Hemsworth and Kristen Stewart, titled The Huntsman: Winter's War.
I was actually fairly excited about the prospect of a movie which would tell us more about the Hunstman proper, since in the original, I think he only spoke about a handful of words. Actually, the entire MOVIE went by with only about a dozen sentences being said by any of the actors and actresses in there, with a whole lot of visuals and dark music and whatnot.
It wasn't exactly bad, persay, but it certainly didn't make me think epic thoughts.
So when this sequel was announced, and especially after that cheating scandal emphasised this would be a break from the original in a way, well, I was hooked.
Luckily for me the movie also had a cameo appearance by Sam Claflin, who is a complete dear, really, and he should have had a bigger role in this than what he did have, but oh well.
In this movie, we sort of can't make up our minds whether it's a sequel or a prequel. Basically, it's a mix of both, because we learn more about Erik's past at this point in time.
Namely, that he was just a child when his village was attacked and raided, and all the children are gathered up and taken way up north to where it's cold and icy, and where Emily Blunt rules in all her Daenerys-inspired glory as the Ice Queen Freya. Freya teaches the children that love is a weakness and they should only rely on their new family from now on, and that she will be their mother.
See, what happened to Freya was this: she's Ravenna's younger sister (Ravenna is the Evil Queen, note) and she was never as adept at magic as her sister was, even though Ravenna thought it was simply lying dormant. She also had a lover whom she adored, and was pregnant with his child ... until the man set fire to the tower where the crib was, thus killing their baby girl and forcing Freya's ice powers to the surface, as well as sending her into exile up north.
Anyway.
Now she's taking in 'stray' children, and among them are Erik and Sara, who both become basically the best of the best among the Huntsmen, until they fall in love.
Something that's, obviously, forbidden.
They marry (in this weird ritual where Sara gives Erik her pendant necklace and tells him she's marrying him), but are found out before they can run, at which point Erik believes that Sara died at the hands of one of the other Huntsmen.
In the present time, he's basically making sure that hunters don't hunt what they shouldn't, when Snow White's husband comes to ask him for help.
Ravenna's Mirror from the first movie is being relocated to a different place, to the heart of the forest where, back in movie one, Snow White met that big white elk, White Hart, where its magic will be contained. See, it's been driving the queen mad with whispering voices, but they've kind of lost track of the thing.
Big, magical object on the loose in the kingdom. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
Well, a lot of things, actually: Erik, aided by the two Dwarves the King saddles him with, realises that the soldiers escorting the Mirror killed each other, which tells them the Mirror is pretty dangerous. But not as dangerous as meeting other Huntsmen in town, along with - wait for it - Sara.
She's alive!
But not in the mood to be romantic with Erik, because she believes he abandoned her and broke her heart, which causes Erik to figure out the Ice Queen played them both to keep them apart.
No matter, as, after running into two Dwarf ladies on the way, they're off to get the Mirror back from the goblins which had taken it, except they have a problem: Freya, who is, yes, still hunting the mirror, tasked Sara to get it, and so Sara does so, despite learning what Erik thought and that he still loves her.
She proves her love by not killing him with her arrow when Freya comes for the Mirror, and rides off.
See, she NEVER misses, and Erik knows this, which means they're going after the lot of them, up north again.
Here's where things get tricky: Freya unleashes Ravenna's spirit from the Mirror, and said spirit starts taking over because, well, Ravenna's power-hungry even if she's dead. Nothing new. Erik knows he only has one shot at getting rid of his problems, which he fails at, obviously, and he and Sara are both about to be executed because she decides that love is worth taking that risk, even one of broken heart.
However, Freya still can't bring herself to kill her Huntsmen, who turn on her and lean on one another for strength, as she's kind of proud of her children, but not so happy with Ravenna who's still trying to boss her around.
Add in the fact that she finally learns the truth about her daughter's death - Ravenna executed everything like a stage play because the Mirror told her the baby would be more beautiful than Ravenna, so naturally she had to die - and she's had just about enough of it all, so she destroys the Mirror even though the spirit of Ravenna mortally wounds her.
But as she lies dying, Freya acknowledges that Erik and Sara are lucky, and should treasure each other, and with her death the Ice Kingdom is released from the grip of winter, and Snow White's kingdom is safe (becaus obviously Ravenna wanted to conquer it again).
All's well that ends well!
I have to say I really enjoyed this one more than the first, probably because the acting was so much better and the cast put on stellar performances. Between the witty one-liners everyone had to deliver, and the clever dialogues you just never had enough of, this was an epic worth watching. Besides, Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt added an amazing feminine touch, and while Ravenna was bonkers, Charlize Theron delivered her performance like a maestro.
All in all, even if you didn't like Snow White and the Huntsman, the Huntsman - Winter's War can probably correct that bad taste in your mouth.
I say try it!
xx
*images and video not mine
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