A sequel nobody asked for, and a waste of time for a trio of talented actresses.
What Works: Jessica Chastain is the best actress alive, and this film is proof-positive of that. Sure, a lot of actresses can be great in well-written roles with top-notch directors. But how many can shine in lifeless genre junk with a hazy sketch of a role that might as well be called “The Warrior Girl?” [I believe the film’s promotional materials might have even used that line.] Chastain can hold you just by not saying anything and keeping you watching her eyes for subtle hints of what she’s thinking. If you’re stranded in a theater watching this thing, you could do worse than studying her choices. Lord knows it’ll be the closest you come to learning anything while watching this.
What Doesn’t: There’s a lot of depressing, impersonable, lifeless CGI-fests in theaters (Batman Vs. Superman, and plenty of upcoming summer films for example) but “Huntsman” is even more by-the-numbers than you might suspect. And it’s particularly disappointing because the first film actually wasn’t that bad: Theron and Stewart managed to shade the material with the classic commentary on women’s roles Snow White always had, and Theron in particular seemed liberated to play a Lady MacBeth you can easily sympathize with, one that’s as vulnerable as she is enraged.
All of that is missing here as Theron is barely in this film until the last quarter, and a parody of herself when she does show up. Emily Blunt isn’t given a lot to do, and it’s sad to watch three solid actresses waste their efforts in this. I’m sure any would rather be doing better work in a better film, and are probably a little dismayed that this is the highest profile movie they could find to work with other actresses. Chris Hemsworth is blandness personified, and even gets upstaged by two stock dwarf sidekicks, whose barbed insult-throwdowns with female dwarves give the film its only lively moments.
What I Would Have Done Differently: I’m sure Universal doesn’t need me to tell them they made a mistake making this movie. Their first signs should have been the fact that nobody wanted this movie, most people (although not me) didn’t like the first one, Stewart wasn’t even in this one because of a “scandal” involving the married director, and I’m sure Warner Brothers is just relieved that they aren’t the ones who sponsored a big-budget bomb.