Like the cheapest types of candy, there's a hollow center to The Huntsman: Winter's War. Something's missing from this sickly-sweet CGI confection. The story, set both before and after the first Huntsman, is predictable and deathly dull, and the action sequences, which should be pure escapism, are muddy and nonsensical. The movie eventually finds its gear, sort of, when Eric the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), Eric's warrior wife Sara (Jessica Chastain), and the dwarfs embark on a quest for the wicked queen Ravenna's (Charlize Theron) magic mirror, but by then your brain will have checked out. I suppose we should be grateful for a fantasy action movie in which three out of the four leads are women, each of whom kicks a reasonable amount of ass (the two dwarfs also have dwarf-lady counterparts who are no slouches in the fighting department). We can only hope that Huntsman 3: Eric Slips in the Bathtub takes the next step and dispenses with the men altogether.

Read Ned Lannamann's full review