The Huntsman: Winter’s War

This dark fantasy has a 7-year gap between being a prequel and ultimately a sequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, where Chris Hemsworth saves Snow White from the Evil Queen Ravenna, whose sister Freya (played by Emily Blunt) has been traumatized by an emotional riff caused to manifest her ice powers. Even when the source material, an amalgamation of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, is confirmed there is the tendency to infuse comic book elements in the story where the rival sisters have powers similar to Marvel’s Venom or DC’s Mr. Freeze! Raised to protect Queen Freya’s kingdom, Hemsworth and Sara (Jessica Chastain) fall in love, which is strictly forbidden as an expression of prominence greater than allegiance to the Queen. A pursuit of the Evil Queen’s mirror brings these two in contact with a quartet of dwarves as they head into battle with simian goblins. A more action-oriented tale than the previous film and Blunt is far more insidious as the Ice-queen; that is, until, Ravenna gets her revenge!

[PG-13]