Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) from THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN debuted back in 2012 to mockery and critical disdain. There was also that salacious tabloid scandal which involved star Kristen Stewart and her very married director Rupert Sanders. Though it wasn’t perfect by any means, I felt it got an unfair shake from audiences and critics. I mean, what’s more badass than Charlize Theron like this:
….and solidifying herself as an icon?! Bitch, please: There’s nothing more ravenously badass. Well, until now, in the Stewart-less sequel, THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR. Theron returns to the solid liquid gold role as Queen Ravenna – and this time she’s brought her sister, Freya (Emily Blunt). As per the trailer below, the sequel – directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin – features a handful of strong female characters, powerhouses like Theron, Blunt and Jessica Chastain, who is never anything less than incandescent. Oh, and Chris Hemsworth is in this too. He’s not too shabby.
B-O-S-S! Amirite?!
Here’s the official synopsis:
Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain)—only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love.
When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable…unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.
THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR opens on April 22, 2016.
