THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR (2016)
Genre: Fantasy
Certification: 12A
Duration: 114 minutes
Directed by: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Emily Blunt, Sam Claflin, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Sophie Cookson
KRS Releasing Ltd
After the successful Snow White and the Huntsman, the 2012 adaptation of popular fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, comes a prequel that incorporates another fairy tale: The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, which has already inspired Disney’s multimillion box office hit Frozen.
Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost and Sam Claflin reprise their roles from the first film and are joined by Emily Blunt who takes a central role, Rob Brydon and Jessica Chastain.
Kristen Stewart, who had played Snow White in the first film, does not feature here as the events happen long before Ravenna’s death.
Freya (Emily Blunt), the younger sister of Ravenna (Charlize Theron), gives birth to a beautiful girl and the evil queen soon learns from the Magic Mirror that the child’s beauty will eventually surpass her own. Sometime later the infant is killed.
The heart-broken mother retreats to a northern kingdom to raise an army of huntsmen as her protectors. Gifted with the ability to freeze her enemies in ice, she teaches her young soldiers to never fall in love. When Eric (Hemsworth) and fellow warrior Sara (Chastain) defy this rule, the angry queen does whatever she can to stop them. As war between the siblings escalates, Eric and Sara unite with Freya to end Ravenna's wicked reign.
The film marks the directing debut of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who had acted as visual effects supervisor on the first film. This has surely had an impact on the outcome as while The Huntsman may be lauded for its “visual inventiveness”, the plot or its direction leave much to be desired.
Jimi Famurewa of Empire Magazine commented: “Visual inventiveness and spectacular casting can’t quite salvage a muddled fantasy epic that, if it were a Magic Mirror, would be held together with gaffer tape.”
And Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote: “Now Snow White is awol, this dreary and incoherent CGI mash-up of plots from Frozen, Narnia and The Incredibles really cannot justify its existence.”
The film still has not debuted in North America and is still being rolled out in most countries but it has received $19 million since its release on April 4 in the UK, other European countries and in China.
THE CHOICE (2016)
Genre: Romantic drama
Certification: 12A
Duration: 111 minutes
Directed by: Ross Katz
Starring: Benjamin Walker,
Teresa Palmer, Maggie Grace, Alexandra Daddario, Tom Wilkinson and Tom Welling
KRS Releasing Ltd
Another Nicolas Sparks novel has been adapted to the big screen.
The film follows medical student Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) as she moves in next door to vet Travis Shaw (Benjamin Walker).
He has always believed a serious relationship with a woman would hinder his easygoing lifestyle, while Gabby is all set to settle down with her long-term boyfriend, a fellow doctor (Tom Welling).
All is fine until an irresistible attraction between the unlikely couple upends both of their lives.
After a whirlwind courtship, Gabby and Travis marry and build a family together, making every decision hand-in-hand until one of them is forced to make the most important choice of their life alone.
Critics have lambasted the film, with Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times going as far as saying that “The Choice is almost repellently synthetic”.
The ending too seems problematic. Bilge Ebiri of Vulture says that when “we get to ‘the choice’ in The Choice, it all goes to hell”.
The film has not done very well at the box office, generating $18.7 million since it was released in the US eight weeks ago.
The author’s fans, however, may still flock to the cinema.
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016)
Genre: Sci-fi thriller
Certification: 12
Duration: 103 minutes
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Starring: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr, Douglas M. Griffin, Bradley Cooper
KRS Releasing Ltd
Dan Trachtenberg, better known as a podcast host, makes his directorial debut with a sort of ‘spiritual successor’ to the 2008 monster horror film Cloverfield.
The plot follows a young woman who wakes up after a terrible accident to find that she's locked in a cellar with a doomsday prepper (a person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future ), who insists that he saved her life and that the world outside is uninhabitable following an apocalyptic catastrophe. Uncertain what to believe, the woman soon determines that she must escape at any cost.
The film, which unlike its precedessor does not adopt the found-footage style but is instead presented in third-person narrative, has received much praise, even more than the first instalment of the franchise.
Justin Change of Variety remarked: “A sensationally effective semi-sequel that bears virtually no narrative or stylistic resemblance to its predecessor.”
And Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times wrote: “10 Cloverfield Lane, though no more than a kissing cousin to its namesake, is smartly chilling and finally spectacular.”
The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes sums the film up: “Smart, solidly crafted and palpably tense, 10 Cloverfield Lane makes the most of its confined setting and outstanding cast – and suggests a new frontier for franchise film-making.”
The film hopes to replicate the success of the first film, which had earned $170.8 million at the box office against a $25 million budget. So far, 10 Cloverfield Lane made $93.6 million since its release in North America on March 11.