Not exactly the fun-filled romp that was expected

WITH an A-list cast, a big-time budget and a storyline based on characters from Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, you might expect the follow-up to 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman to be a fun-filled romp through well-travelled fairy-tale territory.

Instead, The Huntsman: Winter's War is a dull-as-dishwater dud, a poorly-conceived, supremely underwhelming effort that - in the pantheon of lousy films - ranks somewhere between Rancid Aluminium and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Winter's War, directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoul, falls into the "prequel" category of movie sequels, with a story that takes place "before happily ever after" when Eric the Huntsman (Liam Hemsworth) saved Snow White from a couple of bad apples - including the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron).