The Huntsman: Winter's War film review ★★★★★

The Huntsman: Winter’s War is a triumph of style over substance. Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan imagines a wintry fantasia: a snowy wonderland populated by gold-clad goblins and terrifying ice queens. Watching it in 3D, you feel as though you’re at the very cusp of modernity, awed by just how far technology has come. But the film leans too heavily on CGI trickery, hoping its spectacular set-pieces can compensate for the weak storytelling.

Head-scratchingly billed as a prequel/sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, the film builds on the world of its predecessor. We learn more about Hemsworth’s huntsman: how he was captured by Freya (Emily Blunt), Ravenna’s (Charlize Theron) grief-stricken sister, and taken to the cold heart of her kingdom, a place where love is forbidden. We learn how he broke this commandment, how he fell in love with another conscript Sara (Jessica Chastain), and was cast out of the realm.

Now, after years of wandering the wilderness, he is called on to prevent a mirror of diabolic power from falling into Freya’s hands. Along the way he picks up a band of allies, including his long lost lover (and, perhaps more unexpectedly, Rob Brydon). It’s not exactly the most original of fantasy premises, but it just about suffices. More irksome is the absence of chemistry between Hemsworth and Chastain. Theron and Blunt do their best to compensate with a convincing sisterly rivalry, but the lukewarm central relationship is a sharp thorn in the film’s side.

For fans of CGI extravaganzas, this is well worth a watch; the crystalline and liquid metal aesthetic is undeniably impressive. For anyone else, this is unlikely to hold much joy.