Tagged with Emily Blunt

The Huntsman: Winter’s War: Mini-review


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Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth is a large part of the problem with The Huntsman: Winter’s War

C-Between the spring of 2012, when Snow White and the Huntsman became a modest theatrical hit, and this year’s arrival of its follow-up, The Huntsman: Winter’s War arrives, we have witnessed Frozen, Brave, and three Hobbit movies. All of these latter films were more successful, both critically and financially, than Snow White was, so it’s not surprising that the current film’s screenwriters have tried to shoehorn in as many plot elements as possible from the later movies. It’s also not surprising that the result is somewhat of a bloated mess.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War attempts to be both a prequel and sequel to Snow White. In the film’s first half hour, viewers learn that evil queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) has a younger, nicer sister Freya (Emily Blunt). But a family tragedy makes Freya as cruel as Ravenna and gives the her ability to freeze people and other objects. After Snow White defeats Ravenna, Freya tries to get the power of Ravenna’s magic mirror for herself, and only Eric, the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), formerly one of Ravenna’s warriors, and another former warrior, Sara (Jessica Chastain), stand in her way.

Any movie fan seeing the current Huntsman will realize in a minute that Ravenna and Freya are far more sinister versions of Anna and Elsa in Frozen, red-headed Sara is a live action Merida from Brave, and that Eric’s quest for the mirror, accompanied by a band of dwarves, is a variant on the treasure hunt in the Hobbit films. Unfortunately, The Huntsman: Winter’s War is entirely bereft of any of the wit or magic of those other films. Instead, Huntsman relies on its title character, as played by the rather leaden Hemsworth, and struggles to fit all its disparate plot elements in a two-hour movie. At least, Theron has fun as an over-the-top villain (who is too seldom on screen), and she and Blunt look great in a variety of dazzling costumes. The movie’s visual effects are good, especially in the final action sequence, but the overall pace of the film is too slow and the mood too gloomy. Freya’s ice kingdom is the perfect setting for The Huntsman: Winter’s War; the movie is as frozen as the setting. Continue reading →

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Sicario: Mini-review


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Emily Blunt

Don’t let Emily Blunt’s smile deceive you; she knows how to kick ass.

BFew phrases are bandied about as often, and as inaccurately, as the “war on drugs,” which in this country is neither a war nor anything waged against the actual drugs. That didn’t stop provocative director Denis Villeneuve from taking a look at how an actual war on those who traffic in drugs might be waged. The answers he posits in Sicario are not pleasant to consider but often fascinating to watch.

In Sicario, a covert government task force led by mystery man Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) decides to take more direct action against a major Mexican drug cartel. Graver recruits FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) with a promise that she can bring down some bad guys. Kate soon realizes that Graver isn’t looking to make arrests but to take more direct action, and he’s being helped by a mystery man named Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), who has his own reasons for going after the cartel.

The moral, ethical, and legal issues in Sicario are quite complex, Villeneuve and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan obviously intend for Kate to be the audience’s proxy. It soon becomes clear to the audience, although not to Kate, that she’s just around to provide the illusion of a legitimate FBI operation. However, the moral issues are never as clearly framed here as in Villeneuve’s last film, Prisoners. Instead, Kate comes across more as a petulant child pouting on the sidelines while the grownups go ahead without her. Although Sicario is eventually less provocative than it could have been, it’s an excellently made film, though, with brilliant cinematography by Roger Deakins and solid lead performances by Blunt and, especially, del Toro, who appears more invested in a film than he has been in years. The set pieces, especially a shootout on the bridge between Juarez and El Paso, are as exciting and suspenseful as any this year. Ultimately, however, Sicario never becomes more than a well-made thriller on a timely, controversial topic.  Continue reading →

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