Fooled

I wish I'd seen this review for the Huntsman sequel before I watched it myself. It's so slow and weird, and the fairy/animal CGI was as creepy as ever. Plus I kept thinking they were hinting that the black huntsman was in love with Sara too, but it didn't develop properly; some side plot got cut out perhaps. I guess this movie deserved to bomb at the box office, but I'm disappointed because I wanted to like this movie, to be pleasantly surprised like I was by Zootopia.

I mean, I'd heard other bad reviews for the film, but I didn't pay attention because the trailers looked so good, featuring Ravenna and her conflict with her sister Freya so prominently. Little did I know that these characters would be off screen for a large part of the film, and that the trailer actually spoiled a plot point that was supposed to be a surprise late in the movie. Instead most of the action is focused on the Huntsman, his wife Sara, and the quest to find the magical mirror. We don't even have all the dwarves.

Years ago, when I saw the Snow White and the Huntsman movie, I saw it mainly for Charlize Theron as Ravenna. I couldn't give a crap about Snow White. I was disappointed that we didn't get much backstory on Ravenna, let alone the magic mirror's powers. When Ravenna died in that movie, I assumed that she would not return for the sequel. When she did, and the trailers promised lots of backstory (and her coming back to life), I thought, "Finally! Somebody gets it. I watched for Ravenna, not freaking Snow White." I assumed wrongly that the writers were finally going to give me what I wanted all along, and were cutting out dull boring Snow White in the process. Though they did write out Snow White, they didn't give Ravenna more screen time to replace her. Again, she mostly is there to be villainous, sexy, and vague, with no attempt to really explain her character motivations or magic or anything. And if you're going to promise a war between Ravenna and her sister, then you better deliver an epic battle. Hmm, I guess this is how comics fans felt cheated of their epic Batman vs. Superman fight.