'The Huntsman: Winter's War' Trailer: In Which Emily Blunt Rides A Polar Bear

By Jacob HallFeb. 11, 2016 10:00 am EST

The most important thing to understand about the new The Huntsman: Winter's War trailer is that there are at least two shots where Emily Blunt, playing a literal ice queen named Freya, rides a polar bear. Now, I'm not sure what you value in life, but Emily Blunt as an ice-blasting sorceress sitting astride a polar is the kind of thing that can get us through a dark and lonely day. That's some serious D&D s*** right there.

The rest of the trailer for The Huntsman: Winter's War isn't nearly as inspiring, looking like a half-baked rehash of the already half-baked Snow White and the Huntsman. And yet it's hard to find too much to hate about a movie that somehow managed to wrangle Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chasten, and Emily Blunt (on a polar bear!) into the same ensemble.

The Huntsman: Winter's War appears to be both a prequel and sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman and it's surprisingly confusing. The trailer literally incorporates a voice over to declare that this film is a prequel, but the official synopsis makes it very clear that most of the action takes place following the conclusion of the first film. All you really need to know is that two evil magical sisters go to war after an unfortunate episode involving infanticide and a bunch of magical stuff happens, complete with CGI monsters roaring at the camera while their mouths unhinge to ridiculous levels, as they're wont to do.

The Huntsman: Winter's War doesn't look too promising, but there's something to be said for a movie that allows actresses as fun Theron and Blunt to ham it up as dueling evil queens. And who are we to deny Chastain the chance to portray a tough rogue who gets to chop up monsters alongside Thor himself? And who knows, maybe first time director Cedric Nicolas-Tryoan (who was visual effects supervisor on Snow White and the Huntsman) will surprise us all and deliver something that actually captures the joy of a rollicking fairy tale adventure without succumbing to the fatigue that plagues too many overblown fantasy movies. Maybe!

Here is the official synopsis, which presents a very different story than the actual trailer:

Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White's blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya's ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain)—only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love.

When Freya learns of her sister's demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it's ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable...unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen's cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.

The Huntsman: Winter's War opens on April 22, 2016. Emily Blunt rides a polar bear in it.