The Huntsman: Winter's War is a 2016 American fantasy action-adventure film and both a prequel and sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). As the directorial debut of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (who was a visual effects supervisor and second unit director on the first film), it takes place before and after the events of the first film. The screenplay was written by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos and is based on characters created by Evan Daugherty. (These, like the first film, were inspired by the fairy tale "Snow White" compiled by the Brothers Grimm, as well as "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen.). Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost and Sam Claflin reprised their roles from the first film; the sequel also introduced new characters played by Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain and Rob Brydon.
The Huntsman: Winter's War premiered in Hamburg March 2016 and was released in the United States in April 2016, by Universal Pictures. The film has received generally unfavourable reviews from critics, with praise for the visuals and cast but many feeling the film was unnecessary. It grossed $165 million worldwide against an estimated $115 million production budget, making it a box-office bomb.
Plot
The evil sorceress Queen Ravenna's Magic Mirror allows her to know that her younger sister, Princess Freya, whose own powers have not yet emerged, is not only involved in an illicit affair with a nobleman, Andrew, but is also pregnant with his illegitimate child. Freya gives birth to a daughter, but later she discovers that Andrew has murdered their baby. In a grief-fueled rage, her broken heart freezes over, and Freya kills him with her sudden emergence of powers- the elemental control of ice and snow.
After her daughter's death, Freya leaves, building herself a kingdom in the icy mountains in the north. Ruling as the much-feared Ice Queen, she orders for parents to be killed and for their children to be brought to her castle so they can be trained as her army. She teaches them to avoid the pain of love that she had suffered; despite this, two of her best huntsmen, Eric and Sara, fall in love. Sara claims Eric in "marriage" by giving him her mother's medallion necklace. They make a plan to escape in order to have a free life together but are discovered by Freya. Eric sees Sara killed while he is beaten and thrown into a river.
Seven years later, after Ravenna's death in the first film, Queen Snow White of Tabor falls ill after hearing the Mirror beckon her. Because of its dark magic, she orders it to be taken to Sanctuary, the same magical place that sheltered her and Eric during the events leading to Ravenna's defeat and death. Snow White's husband, King William, informs Eric that the soldiers tasked with carrying the Mirror went missing on route. Knowing of its dark magic can make Freya stronger, Eric agrees to try and retrieve the Mirror; Snow White's dwarf ally Nion and his half-brother Gryff accompany him.
They travel to the last location of the soldiers. Eric discovers they killed one another with their own weapons. The trio are attacked by Freya's huntsmen and are rescued by Sara, who is revealed to be alive. Sara explains that she was imprisoned by Freya and only escaped recently. She has not forgiven Eric, thinking that he abandoned her. They decipher that Eric was shown an illusion of Sara's death while she was made to see him running rather than fighting. Eric convinces her that Freya had tricked them both.
The group goes to the forest of the goblins who had stolen the mirror. During the fight, Sara notices that Eric still wears the necklace she gave him. They retrieve the mirror and save each other in another fight. That night, Eric and Sara make love. The next morning, Freya attacks and reveals that Sara had been loyal to her all along. Sara shoots an arrow at Eric, and Freya departs with the Mirror, unaware that Sara had purposely hit Eric's medallion necklace, which protects him from dying. At her palace, Freya asks the Mirror who is the "fairest of them all," resurrecting Ravenna, who became one with the Mirror when Snow White vanquished and killed her.