Film Review | The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Once upon a time, there were two sisters. They were inseparable. The older sister was endowed with great beauty, but with great beauty comes a grave cost. Her younger sister, though she too was beautiful, was more gracious and loving. But in her graciousness, she was blinded by a love far greater than her elder sister could handle.

The Story

Jumping on Disney’s success with, Frozen, Universal Studios takes Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale, The Snow Queen, in order to redeem their previous film, Snow White and the Huntsman.

Using Snow White and the Huntsman as a middle ground, we see Eric’s (Chris Hemsworth) past: how he met his wife, Sara (Jessica Chastain), how they fell in love and how he lost her. Although Charlize Theron reprises her role as the evil queen, Ravenna, she gives way for Emily Blunt, a.k.a Freya, to truly capture the cold-hearted ice queen.

The story surrounds Freya’s journey of supposedly naively falling in love, only to have her heart broken, thus unlocking her dormant power. Taking hold of her own kingdom out of her anger and discontent, her frozen heart drove her to extreme measures. In order to fill to void of a losing her daughter long before she even knew her, she builds an army of Huntsmen and conquers the northern lands. She has one law: Do not love; it is a sin. But regardless of her hard heart, love breaks through her frozen walls in more ways than one.

As a whole, the story bookends the previous film really well. It is well written and well adapted in terms of merging two fairytales into one. Although I do have a few questions like:

• Where does Finn (Sam Spruell) sit in all of this power play between the two sisters?
• Wasn’t Eric the one who woke Snow White to begin with?

AND… (*SPOILER ALERT*)

• So…why did she marry William in the end?

I guess three easy questions aren’t so bad considering its predecessor…

The Cast

Chris Hemsworth still takes your breath away as he wields his axe and plays the hero of the story. Hemsworth depicts his character with much more liveliness in this film than the first. It’s as though this film brings out a lighter side to the Huntsman – and so it should! The story gives way to multiplicity within characters and Hemsworth stepped up to the plate.

Emily Blunt is divine in her own version of what it means to be a broken and tortured queen to that of Theron. Her portrayal of a seemingly loveless ruler was as believable as her portrayal of a lovesick, obedient sister. She too understood the power of duality in her portrayal of the ice queen. There was a delicate balance of demanding respect and weakness in her character – she truly was chilling.

Jessica Chastain is a beautiful support to Hemsworth and Blunt. In a film where oestrogen runs strong, it is great to see another girl harnessing physical prowess rather than magic or a spine-tingling speech. Her character also plays a central role to the story and it’s great to see that actions really to speak louder than words – especially when it come to love.

Charlize Theron is still as devious as she was in the first film, but instead of over powering her fellow cast members, it is clear that her talents have been matched. Commanding power with presence was great, but it was excellent to see that Blunt and Hemsworth equally matched her in line delivery and heart-racing action.

Overall…the story is MUCH better than the first film; the acting is not just excellent in every single cast member, but also very well balanced. It’s worth every penny you pay. If fairytales with action is your cup of tea, then this is for you.

sL Star Rating: ★★★★★
Next on sL: Eddie The Eagle

Film Review | Avengers: The Age of Ultron

Evolution. It’s what humanity was made to do…but what about our own creations? Are they meant to evolve? Are they meant ‘get better’? And if they do, are they supposed to surpass us? Is technology’s purpose to completely override humanity?

What if technology could think for itself? What if technology could walk? What if technology was on the verge of becoming humanity?

Welcome, to the Age of Ultron.

The Story

I’m not too sure how close to the comics Marvel Entertainment’s latest Avengers movie is, but from what I know and what I’ve read, it’s different. The whole idea of technology evolving and becoming its own “person” is an existentialist’s dream come true. Take the concept of, Her, and place it into the Marvel world and you’ve got yourself a recipe for and epic explosion!

You have the usual battle between good and evil, but this time it draws from biblical themes of sacrifice, grace and the crux of what it means to be a fallen human. True, it doesn’t exactly follow the play-by-play of the gospels and Genesis as Thor does, but it does echo several quotes from Exodus, Matthew and Revelations.

The story, as the early trailers have provided, do carry an abundance of poetic elements for the character of Ultron – with a running theme of puppetry. It was almost as if his craftiness with words made him more threatening than being made out of the same metal Captain America’s shield.

It was also great to see Jeremy Renner’s character, Clint Barton – a.k.a. Hawkeye, get a back story to give his character more meat. (Not to mention gain a few friends along the way - *cough-Quicksilver-cough-Scarlet-Witch-cough*.)

Overall, the story was packed with so many elements of past literature, along with element of the comic’s plotline, it’s one I literally have to see again just to wrap my head around.

The Cast (New Cast)

Step aside Downey Jr., Hemsworth, Ruffalo, Evans, Johansson, Renner and L. Jackson – it’s time for the newbies to shine. (Although, y’all did an amazing job reprising your roles, yes Robert, you all deserve standing ovations for your prowess.)

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen are going to share the limelight for this review because they were pretty much joined at the hip playing the Maximoff twins. Now since Marvel are still possibly in negotiations with Sony for the rights to the word "mutants," Taylor-Johnson and Olsen have been given a different back story as to their linage and their powers - i.e. children of war and human excitements ('mutants' without using the word 'mutant'). They've become in-between characters who constantly need to make a choice to either be on the “good” side or the “bad” side – and sometimes, as this film clearly points out, it’s hard to tell who’s who. Taylor-Johnson and Olsen both carry and sustain their Eastern European accents very well and embody their characters completely. They’re both very convincing and they draw you in like a moth to a flame almost instantly.

James Spader’s debut as Ultron’s voice has you shivering from the moment he is brought to life. His poetic streams that are truncated by comic relief bring a delicate mixture of both light and dark to the film. The intricacy of his character is nothing without Spader’s passionate delivery of every line he utters. I am in awe.

Paul Bettany grabs your absolute attention, but I feel like if I praise him too much I would be giving too many spoilers. Yes, he is brilliant as Jarvis, but he is also brilliant as Jarvis’ alter ego. The way that Jarvis evolves in this film is so compelling that I’m still in shock with how his character has been developed in this film. Let’s leave it at that – great job Bettany!

Overall, for all you thinkers, see this movie twice – I will be! There’s so much in it to just take-in in one sitting. For all you Marvel fans, it will not disappoint. You will love every minute of it – I did! I do recommend watching all the other films before watching this one to tie some loose ends to jog the memory.

Star Rating: ★★★★★

Next on sL:  Pitch Perfect 2