The Huntsman: Winter's War

In my review of Snow White and the Huntsman, I called it "already decent." Maybe decent wasn't the best word. Because other than the visual design, everything else was pretty drab. Maybe that's where it's half-prequel/sequel The Huntsman: Winter's War will end up in a few years.

It took forever, but the follow-up that Universal wanted is here. The first film's Oscar-nominated Co-Visual Effects Supervisor, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, has been promoted to the director's chair. The first film's Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), who we find out is named Eric, is the star. But let's see if it's the follow-up the general public wanted.

While evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) was conquering kingdoms, her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) was falling for a nobleman. They have a daughter, but the nobleman sets the infant on fire. So Freya sets him on ice. Yes, Freya has ice powers and she goes up north to build herself a kingdom as the Ice Queen. She sets out to conquer and pillage and recruit kids of conquered lands as Huntsmen. She gives them one rule: no love.

Two of the Huntsmen, Eric and Sara (Jessica Chastain), fall in love. They elope and Freya finds out. She has them fight their way out to prove their love. But Freya is a cheat and separates them with a wall of ice. Eric gets knocked out just as he sees Sara stabbed in the back. Eric is tossed into a river.

Seven years and one movie later, Ravenna is dead and Eric is still a brooding Huntsmen. The Magic Mirror goes missing and Eric has to find it for Snow White's sake. Two dwarves, Nion and Gryff (Nick Frost and Rob Brydon), join him. Two more dwarves, Doreena and Bromwyn (Alexandra Roach and Sheridan Smith), join them. And so does Sara, who is not dead (but Elsa Freya made Eric think she was with illusionary powers), but bitter. Freya wants the mirror to conquer and pillage. She'll be surprised once she sees what's in the thing.

Its plot twists are certainly no surprise; sloppy seems a better word. Sara's survival hinges on Freya's other powers that aren't brought up before or after that scene. Ravenna's role in jumpstarting Freya's villainy was obvious from the start. On the other hand, I expected Freya's child to actually survive and grow up into somebody important; she didn't. So maybe that's one plus.

The "Ice Queen" herself is meant to be a sympathetic antagonist. But I'm reminded why Disney had to adjust Elsa's personality to make Frozen work. Whereas Elsa wants to be alone, Freya jumps off the icy slippery slope from the start. Her plan to conquer and pillage was her idea. Her separating Eric and Sara with McGuffin powers makes her a vindictive cheat. She wants to conquer and pillage until Ravenna comes back into the picture. I didn't really feel sorry for her.

The only fun comes from the dwarves. They're much more likable and funnier than the main cast. The "female dwarves are ugly" jokes are too numerous, but their relationship with each other is endearing. Going back to the main cast, Hemsworth and Chastain are serviceable in their character types. Nothing more, nothing less. And Theron still hams it up as the evil Ravenna.

The visual design still works. Freya's ice powers and citadel are wonders of visual effects and production design. Her wardrobe and Ravenna's are where Coleen Atwood's costume design does its best. The digital face swap used for the dwarves was seamless. A molten river of gold and slave in the mirror are also highlights for the FX team.

The Huntsman: Winter's War's icy atmosphere lends itself to a typical dark fairy tale. A Snow White film without Snow White is one thing, but this Grimm tale doesn't distinguish itself that well from all the others. It's nothing bad, but nothing special. A film on either end of the movie thermometer might certainly have its own identity. See it only if you want to.

The Jungle Book

Now this is the law of the cinema, as old and true as the sky.

A good story that worked before someday gets another try.

The Jungle Book is one story that worked for Disney before,

first animated 1967 and then in live-action in 1994.

This newest Disney version has a live-action Mowgli and a CGI zoo

directed by Jon Favreau, best known for Iron Man 1 and 2.

The Man-Cub Mowgli is part of Akela and Raksha's wolf pack

A home in the Jungle is what Mowgli does not lack.

But Shere Khan the Tiger shows up to say
"give up Mowgli or you shall all pay."

Bagheera the Panther escorts Mowgli to the village of Man

so that terrible tiger can't threaten his lifespan.

Mowgli doesn't want to be forced back to Man,

and wants to get to the Wolves any way he can.

On his travel, he meets that old bear Baloo

and King Louie, who sings "I wanna be like you."

Mowgli needs to defeat Khan to save the day

so the fauna can safely make their way.

(Switching to prose now.)

The film has a sparse human cast, primarily Neel Sethi as Mowgli, interacting with CGI animals. These animals interact with humans and actual backgrounds believably. When Baloo (Bill Murray) floats down a river, he really looks wet from an actual river. The wolf pups who call Mowgli brother look like real wolf pups. King Louie (Christopher Walken) makes for a convincingly intimidating great ape. On principal, you can tell its CGI, but its CGI done right.

The film is more serious than the 1967 movie. Shere Khan (Idris Elba) is much more hostile than his suave animated counterpart (George Sanders). His presence is legitimately intimidating. So is Kaa (Scarlet Johansson), who's much bigger than her (male) animated counterpart and comes dangerously close to eating Mowgli. But Baloo saves the day with his comic relief and fighting prowess. 

Jon Debney's score incorporates bits from the animated film. Richard Sherman, the surviving Sherman Brother, even returns to rewrite King Louie's big number to accommodate him being a Gigantopithecus. The re-orchestrations are a great listen; the new material is just as memorable. Whether new or old material, the music sets the movie apart from the animated movie.

Anyone who's seen the animated Jungle Book will know the new film's beats, but there's enough new stuff to keep them involved. The well-cast actors, both live-action and animated, make these familiar characters compelling. The story and plot goes at a fine pace throughout 105 minutes. It's certainly a good (yet intense) introduction to the story for new viewers. 

And about stories being told again and again? Someone decided to make another Jungle Book at Warner Bros. This version, directed by Andy Serkis, who will also be Baloo, will hit screens either next year or the year after that...