This first look at the sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either. The original suffered from a number of problems, chief among them its leading lady and an overly grim aesthetic. The Huntsman: Winter’s War looks to be doing some course correcting on those fronts. Things are a heck of a lot brighter but haven’t lost the edge that the first film gave its fairy tale inspirations (what is going on with Charlize Theron’s oilmouth screamface?), and the cast is looking a lot more engaged. Bringing back Theron was a smart move as she was the bright spot of the last film, and you can tell she revels in playing wicked. I’m also cracking a sly smile at making Emily Blunt’s Ice Queen the new villain. Take that all you little girls who love Frozen! And there’s some genuinely cool stuff in this trailer. That whole symbiote stabbing thing Theron is doing near the end? I like it!
But I’m just burned out on all these ultra-stylized, adult-aesthetic fairy tale rehashes. It feels like the big boom of these things is over, so I can’t really get excited for this. Maybe I’ll catch it on HBO while laying around the house on a Sunday.
The Huntsman: Winter is Co… er, Winter’s War opens April 22, 2016.
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