The Huntsman: Winter's War

For F*** Magazine

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR

Director : Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Cast : Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Alexandra Roach, Sheridan Smith, Sam Claflin
Genre : Action/Fantasy
Run Time : 114 mins
Opens : 14 April 2016
Rating : PG13 (Violence)

Once upon a time, there was an actress whose indiscretions resulted in her being booted from a potential franchise which she would’ve headlined. So instead, we turn our attention to the deuteragonist. Eric the Huntsman (Hemsworth) was one of a number of children kidnapped and forced into military training, to be groomed into the army of the Snow Queen Freya (Blunt). Defying Freya’s orders that they harden their hearts to love, Eric falls headlong for fellow warrior Sara (Chastain). Many years later, Eric thinks he is free of Freya’s grasp, but when her soldiers threaten Snow White’s kingdom, he has to face the Snow Queen again. Freya has taken the magic mirror, which she uses to resurrect her elder sister Ravenna (Theron), thought vanquished by Snow White and Eric. Joining Eric and Sara in their journey are dwarves Nion (Frost) and Gryff (Brydon). Eric and Sara must face off against the troops they grew up alongside, battling the power of the two sisters.

            Any studio wants franchises, and Universal is certainly no different. They’ve struck a goldmine with the Fast and Furious series and a new Universal Monsters universe is poised to take shape, but there’s always room for more cash cows in the herd. Alas, the action-fantasy take on Snow White seems a wobbly basis for a juggernaut franchise. When Kristen Stewart was given the boot, so was director Rupert Sanders, with whom she was having an affair. Replacing him at the helm is visual effects artist Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, The Huntsman marking his feature film directorial debut. Frank Darabont was initially set to direct, but he left before production began.

There are certain neat aesthetic ideas on display in the film and returning costume designer Colleen Atwood outfits Freya and Ravenna in a selection of splendid couture creations. Unfortunately, it all tends towards the generic. Where the plot is concerned, palace intrigue and dissention amongst the ranks against a medieval fantasy backdrop is readily available in more sophisticated and arresting forms elsewhere. Yes, it’s more ersatz Game of Thrones – or ‘Game of Theron’s’, if you will.

We have a good cast making do with ho-hum material – the presence of Blunt, Theron and Chastain in one movie should have far more propulsive impact than we actually get. But first, the titular Huntsman - For all of Hemsworth’s pulchritude and his ropey attempts at a Scottish accent, the filmmakers seem fully aware that Eric is a patently uninteresting character. We gain precious little from learning the character’s back-story, which is tied into that of the female lead, Sara. Chastain has repeatedly proven that she’s a force to be reckoned with and she kicks plenty of ass in full action heroine mode. But when it comes down to it, a mono-dimensional tough chick who’s totally one of the dudes and doesn’t need no man (or so she tells herself) is not that much better than a damsel in distress. In the cut we saw, a love scene between the two was abruptly truncated – puzzling that the censorship board opted to snip stuff out of a PG-13 fantasy flick that had its Singapore premiere in a theme park.

Incorporating the Snow Queen as the villain of the piece was no doubt a result of Frozen’s continued popularity. The Disney animated film couched the character as an anti-heroine, whereas Hans Christian Andersen created the character as more of a villainess. There was a good deal more to Elsa than there is to Freya, cries of “overrated” be damned. Blunt’s talents are wasted; her performance is pretty much a coolly restrained version of Theron’s. She’s not called upon to do very much at all. Speaking of Theron, she was far and away the best part of Snow White and the Huntsman, her ravenous scenery-chewing injecting the dour fantasy action proceedings with considerable excitement. She’s not in this one for very much and the sisterly bond/sibling rivalry between Freya and Ravenna gets insufficient development.

While the effects work involved in shrinking regular-sized actors down to dwarves is as seamless as it was the first time round, the dwarves obviously serve little purpose apart from comic relief and could be excised from the plot without too much consequence. It’s a relief that a fair number of these jokes land.

The action sequences suffer from shaky-cam and choppy editing, so we don’t get to truly appreciate the deadly skill with which Eric and Sara dispatch their enemies. The U.K. locations, including Waverley Abbey in Surrey, Well’s Bishops Palace and Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean ensure the film does not get swallowed up in computer-generated morass. It’s a shame but perhaps to be expected that the spectacle doesn’t soar and the story ends up flat, the film failing to make a case for its existence. A spot of sequel-begging right at the movie’s conclusion can’t help but come off as desperate; Universal might not get its fairy-tale ending after all.

Summary: Star power, intricate costume design and flashy visual effects set-pieces can’t keep this formulaic, mostly listless sequel/prequel/spin-off from leaving us cold.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong 

One Chance

For F*** Magazine

ONE CHANCE

Director: David Frankel
Cast:   James Corden, Alexandra Roach, Mackenzie Crook, Julie Walters, Colm Meaney, Jemima Rooper, Valeria Bilello
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 103 mins
Opens: 1 May 2014
Rating: PG

Before Susan Boyle took the world by storm and was the runner-up of the third season of Britian’s Got Talent, Paul Potts won the first season. Based on his life story, One Chance tracks Potts from his childhood in the Welsh steel town of Port Talbot to his success after winning the televised contest. It was far from a smooth ride – bullied as a child and stuck in a seemingly dead-end job as a mobile phone salesman, all Paul Potts wanted to do was sing opera. He faces teasing and torment, suffers rejection at a prestigious opera academy in Venice, overcomes accidents and illness and clears many other such hurdles in pursuit of his dream, supported by his girlfriend and later wife Julz (Roach), his mother Yvonne (Walters) and his co-worker and friend at the phone shop Braddon (Crook).

James Corden said in an interview with the BBC, “I think my reaction was the same as everyone else’s when they hear there’s a Paul Potts film. I was like ‘Really? Are you sure this is a good idea?’” It’s good to know that Corden was aware of the scepticism a biopic about a reality talent show winner would draw from the get-go. It’s a ripe target for scoffing but One Chance has enough talent behind it to work, and is sufficiently charming and humourous instead of overwrought and self-important. This reviewer was worried that One Chance would come off feeling like a sappy made-for-TV movie, but director David Frankel of The Devil Wears Prada fame has ensured that this doesn’t look cheap, with lots and lots of establishing shots of Venice to show for it.

Sure, a good chunk of the movie does feel embellished, ever so slightly melodramatic and contrived, but it’s also surprisingly funny. Paul Potts seems to have been on the receiving end of a whole string of rather unfortunate incidents, but the movie manages to stay uplifting and not lose that skip in its step. Justin Zackham’s screenplay does have its fair share of clichés and “true underdog stories” are nothing new in cinema, but One Chance is a movie that is easy to enjoy and go along with. All the elements at play here are familiar ones: a hero with a working-class background and an unlikely dream, a supportive mother but a disapproving dad, girlfriend troubles, a best friend on hand to provide comic relief, seemingly insurmountable obstacles and all that jazz (or opera, rather). Corden sums it up as a “sports movie”, except the sport here is opera. However, all this is presented palatably and the audience isn’t being hit over the head with some big stick, so it is a pleasant experience.

A large part of why this works is Corden’s turn as Paul Potts. Donning a set of veneers to capture the sorry state of Potts’ choppers before he got them fixed with his prize money, Corden is endearing and believable as the confidence-deficient phone salesman-turned opera star. He didn’t do his own singing and is dubbed by the real Potts in the movie, but that doesn’t detract from this sweet, loveable performance. Alexandra Roach won this reviewer over just as easily as Julz, the girl Potts met online and eventually married. The two share palpable chemistry and, while there is the inevitable rom-com-style big misunderstanding, Roach is always measured and brings considerable down-to-earth appeal to the part. Her performance makes it clear that Potts wouldn’t have been able to do it had it not been for the love and support of Julz and their love story is as central to the plot as Potts’ passion for singing. Crook is eccentric, funny but thankfully a safe distance from annoying as the designated comic relief and Julie Walters is as warmly maternal as she usually is. She is Molly Weasley, after all.

A particularly grim chapter in Potts’ life during which he was sexually abused by a Sea Cadets leader is omitted from the film and actually didn’t come to light until Potts’ autobiography (also called One Chance) was published after the movie’s release in the UK. That certainly would have made this a lot darker. As a biopic, One Chance is safe, predictable and sometimes cheesy, and one can’t help but feel the cloud of producer Simon Cowell’s gargantuan ego hanging overhead. There's also an annoying Taylor Swift song playing over the end credits. However, this isn’t as bad as it could have been, is pretty entertaining and yes, even actually inspirational.

Summary: The jaded should stay away from this sometimes-treacly biopic, but surprisingly, there is a fair bit here to enjoy, particular James Corden and Alexandra Roach in the leading roles.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong