3-minute preview: 'The Huntsman: Winter's War'
Fairy tales are getting a modern makeover, as "The Huntsman: Winter's War" provides a sequel of sorts to "Snow White and the Huntsman." But with the first film's lead actress and director ducking out, there's a new side-story to be told and new characters to encounter. Find out more in our quick preview.
- What's it about? -
Characters from fairy tales "Snow White" and "The Snow Queen" -- which served as partial inspiration for "Frozen" -- combine for a spin-off from 2012's "Snow White and the Huntsman."
This feature takes place before the first film's ending, and focuses on the backstory between The Huntsman and Snow White's evil stepmother, Queen Ravenna, while introducing us to a number of new characters: Ravenna's sister Freya, the Ice Queen, as well as the Huntsman's warrior wife, Sara.
- Who's in it? -
Several key cast members from "Snow White and the Huntsman" return: Charlize Theron is back as Queen Ravenna, with Chris Hemsworth opposite as Eric the Huntsman.
As its title implies, Kristen Stewart isn't involved as Snow White, but new to the franchise are two more female leads: Emily Blunt, playing Freya, and Jessica Chastain as Sara.
Sam Clafin is again King William, while Nick Frost also reprises his role as the dwarf Nion, Eric's ally, joined by fellow British TV stars Rob Brydon, Alexandra Roach and Sheridan Smith.
- Who's behind it? -
Frenchman Cedric Nicolas-Troyan is making his feature-length directorial debut, the visual effects expert having worked on the likes of "One Hour Photo," "The Ring," and two "Pirates of the Caribbean" films before stepping up as second unit director on "Snow White and the Huntsman" and Disney's subsequent "Maleficent."
-- Is it any good? --
Critics and audiences disagree. Despite its cast and lavish presentation, "The Huntsman" doesn't measure up to "Snow White" according to review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
But prior to its US release, user ratings at IMDb have "The Huntsman" as a touch above its predecessor -- though based on less reviews -- with 6.3/10 from a little over 5,000 scores versus 6.1/10 from 220,000 ratings for "Snow White."
- When's it out? -
"The Huntsman" has been rolling out since the first week of April when it debuted in the UK and Ireland. Opening this week are screenings in France and Belgium (April 20), Argentina and Brazil (April 21), the US, Canada, China and Turkey (April 22). It opens in Japan from May 27.
-- Any trailers? --
Universal Pictures has released three main trailers in the run up to "The Huntsman" release, plus a more recent featurette.
Official Trailer (November 2015): youtu.be/_W65ndip7MM
Trailer 2 (February 2016): youtu.be/F2-_OQL9fBk
Trailer 3 (March 2016): youtu.be/V9cPxenX1-0
Featurette: youtu.be/UKhc_GcXv-U
