The Huntsman: Winter's War

Much went wrong with this disjointed prequel/sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). First, there's no Snow White: after Kristen Stewart's publicized dalliance with married director Rupert Sanders, it was obvious that neither would be returning for this follow-up. Salary issues surfaced when Sony e-mail hacks revealed that Charlize Theron was to be paid substantially less than Chris Hemsworth; she refused to sign until she was promised the same $10 million+ as her costar. And then A-list screenwriters David Koepp and Frank Darabont exited, leaving Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin to dabble with (but never develop) the campy, medieval characters created by Evan Daugherty under the aegis of VFX supervisor-now-turned-director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. A narrator (Liam Neeson) introduces the characters, who include scheming, perennially evil Queen Ravenna (Theron), busily feuding with her rage-filled, recently disillusioned younger sister, Ice Queen Freya (Emily Blunt). Both are challenged by former child soldiers Sara (Jessica Chastain) and Eric (Chris Hemsworth) who, years ago, were kidnapped from their homes and forced to serve in Freya's frosty army. Then along comes Prince William (Sam Claflin), who recruits ax-throwing Eric to recover the coveted Magic Mirror. Although it features some spectacular visual effects, this is a fumbling, fatally flawed fairy tale. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, deleted scenes (9 min.), a gag reel (9 min.), the behind-the-scenes segments “Dressed to Kill” (6 min.) and “Love Conquers All” (6 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the production featurettes “Magic All Around” (9 min.), “Meet the Dwarfs” (8 min.), and “Two Queens and Two Warriors” (8 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this lackluster sequel.] (S. Granger)