Book: "Slash" by Slash and Anthony Bozza

The Witch Trial:
Slash, the hedonistic guitarist from one of the most notorious rock and roll bands in history tells his story.  His life might have been so easy, when everybody was tryin' to please him - but how will we judge him?

Who:
Written by Slash and Anthony Bozza
What:
Biography
Why:
Tells the story of Slash and Guns N' Roses
When:
Published 2007
Where:
American guitarist from Los Angeles

The Case For:
If you are looking for a warts and all story then this book delivers in the most literal sense.  Saul Hudson, better known to the world at large as Slash, is not ashamed to tell you all about his life as a band member of Guns N' Roses, including anecdotes about genital warts!  Seriously he tells you in detail exactly what you can expect as one of rock n' roll's most infamous guitarists.
Firstly though he goes into great detail about his childhood and growing up with parents from different ethnic backgrounds (I hate the term 'mixed race', aren't we all part of the human race?).  This part of a biography can sometimes be a little bland as people generally want to get to the part where someone becomes famous.
In terms of understanding Slash as a person though, it is intriguing to learn the history of his upbringing and the type of social circles his parents moved in.  His mother is a designer of clothes and had some pretty famous clientele; David Bowie being one of them who she would later go on to have a sexual relationship with.  His father is an artist who did, amongst his many works, album covers for musicians.
So from an early age Slash was growing up in a rather bohemian lifestyle.  His own artistic endeavours took him in a different direction to begin with and he describes his love of BMX riding before he picks up his first six string.  I found this early life story to be fascinating and it really made me rethink why he displays some of his behaviours.  Having been brought up in such an eclectic environment would certainly have had a major influence towards his outlook on life and this certainly comes across on the pages.
He then moves on to his early appearances in local bands that he formed with friends and other local musicians, Steven Adler being one of his earliest friends and the person he credits with getting him to first take up an instrument.  What I do like about this section is that Slash doesn't brush past it in a few pages.  He takes his time to introduce the people in his life at this time and give us anecdotes so we get to know this period of his life.
There is an attention to detail here that allows you to appreciate what Slash and his fellow band mates were experiencing as they tried to achieve a small level of success at such young ages.  There is also no holding back on letting the audience know how readily available and eagerly consumed drugs were in this early stage of his life.  When one thinks of a typical rock n' roll lifestyle it is easy to assume that a drug user only really became one once fame has been found.  In the case of Slash though, he was already on that slippery slope before the formation of Gn'R.
The coming together of the five musicians who would go on to form one of the greatest rock acts is also given its due diligence.  He explains how his relationship with each member develops and grows as they get to know one another.  From here you can see how certain alliances fell into place as friendships evolved.  You get a really good insight into the mechanics of this band.
Slash also takes his time to explain how the songs that would appear on Appetite for Destruction, their seminal debut, came about and gives credit where credit is due as to who brought what to the table.  His honesty and sincerity shine through, as well as the pride that he takes from knowing he helped create this music that has been enjoyed by many people across the world.
As a music fan it is exactly this sort of information that I love in a musician's biography.  I want to know the details of how a certain song came together and the inspiration behind it.  This is especially true of a debut record as it is often the one that bands get to work on longer than others; as debuts tend to consist of the songs they have been playing since their formation, right up to getting signed to a record deal.
Bands tend to have a much closer affinity with these particular songs as they have formed the backbone for their career during its infancy.  Slash obviously feels a similar way about the Appetite for Destruction album as it definitely gets the most attention to detail out of their catalogue.
During the telling of these events he doesn't hold back in telling how much his drug use had taken hold of his life.  He is also rather forthcoming about how many drugs were consumed by the people around him; including members of his own band as well as other musicians they were acquainted with.  You get a clear indication that he just wants to tell it as it is and let you form your own opinion of whether what they were doing was right or wrong.
As far as Slash is concerned this was a normal existence for him and his cohorts.  It isn't his place to pass judgement when he is one of the worst offenders.  He does fully acknowledge his own shortcomings and recognises that he has to fight the same battles that all addicts go through.  He is also man enough to admit that he has experienced his ups and downs during these fights and that there is no miracle cure for an addict; you just have to take it day by day.
We get a rundown of the tours, the girls, the drugs, the booze and the run-ins that accompany the lifestyle of the rock star.  There are some funny moments scattered throughout as you would expect when discussing the anarchic activities of a touring band.  Some of these raise a smile and others have you shaking your head, wondering how they were able to get away with some of the things that occur from a legal standpoint.
Slash also includes accounts of friends who have passed away; mainly from overdoses.  Some of these are quite heartfelt and you can tell they have affected him deeply.  Again there is that acknowledgement that this lifestyle will eventually catch up with you.
Eventually he comes to the breakup of Gn'R and the deterioration of his relationship with Axl Rose.  He explains, as his story unfolds, how the group divided before the inevitable final nail in the coffin.  It is only one side of the story, his side, and Axl no doubt has his own version of events.  That being said Slash does put forth his reasons for leaving and debates what could have been had things turned out differently.
For fans of Guns n' Roses this is worth the time; or for any fan of music of this era or genre.  There are certainly good moments to keep you entertained and enough insight into the way these musicians interacted with one another before imploding.

The Case Against:
There are a few issues with the way the book is written, but I'll get to that later.
Slash spends a bit of time before getting to the good stuff, but I'll get to that later.
Some things he doesn't go into enough detail, but I'll get to that later.
Drug use does seem to be a bit glamorised, but I'll get to that later.
BUT I'LL GET TO THAT LATER.  If I read this once, I probably read it a hundred times!  For crying out loud!  Slash had Anthony Bozza, an author and journalist, help him write this biography and there had to be an editor; but neither of them could be bothered taking out all the times Slash said "But I'll get to that later."
It was by far the most annoying thing in the book; to continually read this phrase over and over and over again.  To his credit, Slash does indeed 'get to that later' when the time is right, but for the love of God; someone could have done a better editing job so some of the hints at what was to come were taken out and told in full in the correct chronological order.
This doesn't just happen in the early developing chapters as we get the groundwork of the story but continues well past the halfway point of the nearly 500 page story.  I could possibly have forgiven one or two instances but the repetitiveness meant that at times I would know before the end of the paragraph, we would have Slash telling us to wait a little bit because he will finish this anecdote in a hundred or so pages time!
Now that major gripe is out of the way how about the rest of the biography?
While I did enjoy learning about his early years, it really wasn't imperative to learn about his youth for nearly a quarter of the books length.  There are far too many instances from him growing up which are given more pages than they are worth.
Not only does he go in to too much detail during this phase of his life but later on, when you want to know more about a situation or event that he starts to describe, all you end up with is a brief description.  If more time was spent expanding on these moments and others were trimmed back; then we could have ended up with a more in depth analysis of what helped shape his career.  This is another example of poor editing.
It is a shame because the good stuff is really good and you kind of get the feeling that there could have been so much more like it.  It is as if Slash thinks the bits that he remembers as having special meaning to him are the bits that the reader will also find to be just as special.  This is not going to always be the case.  An old relationship would be fondly remembered by Slash for very personal reasons but the average reader would rather hear more about his life as a musician.
While he is happy to talk about a few of his long term girlfriends he does come across as a bit heartless when it comes to dealing with these relationships.  This is especially true when it comes to the eventual breakup with these ladies.  Because women are so readily available to him; the impression you get is that they are treated just as much as a commodity as the heroin he loved to inject in his body.
This might make him sound like a misogynist which isn't the case at all.  Slash comes across more as indifferent to the women in his life and the feelings that they have for him.  He is more self-absorbed than anything else which is a common trait of addicts.  You might go so far as to call him a narcissist, which I think would be a reasonably accurate description; but what rock star doesn't have a bit of narcissism in them?  I think that has to be one of your traits to live that lifestyle.
There are some rivalries with other bands that are touched upon but he never really goes into any great detail.  Poison were a band that they had a rather obvious dislike for and Slash says so here; but then that is really all you get.  There is no elaboration on the matter and it happens more than once as he discusses his career.
The same can be said of some jealousies that are hinted at; such as with bands that might have been bigger than they were in the early days, ones that they would go on to surpass.  You get the feeling that some resentment still lingers and that there is still some bitterness towards those peers.  I think it is due to a lack of respect that Slash felt should have come their way.
He does like to air his distaste when he does bring up the petty rivalries and jealousies but they seem slightly sugar coated; as if he feels the need to mention them but doesn't really want to go for the jugular and upset anyone too much.  I got the sense that each time he went for the kill, someone was reeling him back in from the precipice.
I felt the same way when it got to the point of him discussing the dissolution of Guns n' Roses and the court cases and mudslinging that followed.  Slash comes across as the type of guy who would avoid confrontation if at all possible and he does so when it comes to tackling this subject.  He pays it as much attention in the book as what he probably gave the actual court cases at the time they occurred.
This once again seems to be someone not wanting to rock the boat too much.  It might be all water under the bridge for him now, but if you want to engage your audience they are going to want to know more details about these significant events in the bands life.
His output since Gn'R makes up a significantly smaller portion of the book and rightly so as it isn't the main focus of the story, especially for the year this biography came out.  In saying that however, his time getting Velvet Revolver off the ground and the reconnection with some of his former band mates to start this band could have been given more space.  Instead he focusses on their search for a suitable singer, rather than expanding on his time getting back with Duff McKagen and Matt Sorum as well as Dave Kushner who he had known from his youth.
Again this comes back to better input from his co-author and some tighter editing.  If the advice he was given during the writing process was better, then the end product could have turned out so much more concise.  Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty to enjoy but you get the feeling that this is a bit of a missed opportunity to make a truly great rock biography.

Verdict:
Take him down to the Paradise City because we can't condemn Slash for wanting to tell his story.  If anyone deserves a flogging here it is Anthony Bozza and whoever edited this work as they should know better.

Evidence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(musician)#1981.E2.80.931985:_Early_years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_N%27_Roses

Poster Pride & Prejudice: case study GAME OF THRONES

Where we look at one Scorching piece of artwork that generates excitement for what it is advertising.

Then on the flipside we also have a Torturous piece that makes you wonder how it ever got approval to promote the product...

Game of Thrones has become a television phenomenon.  The sixth season recently finished and so I thought it would be a good time to look at the poster art that accompanies each season and choose what so far has been hot and what has not.

The Scorcher

It was a tough choice between three posters for the title of Scorcher.  I love the image of the Three-eyed raven from season four and the All Men Must Die title that adorns it.  Likewise the image of Tyrion coming face to face with Drogon from Season five is equally impressive.
I had to plump for the season one opener though.  The sight of Ned Stark seated on the Iron Throne clutching a sword encapsulates the whole season in one image.  The first season revolves around the Stark's and the struggle for the Iron Throne and all these elements are there on the poster.  Ned has a forlorn look to him as if the weight of expectation is too much to bear.  While it isn't Ned's sword 'Ice' from the show, the sword is a bit of foreshadowing of events to come for this reluctant hero...

The Torture
 

The artwork has definitely improved as the show has continued and the amount of material to choose from has grown.  Season two was pretty close to getting the vote but I had to go for season three.  We get that people want to see Daenerys' dragons but this shadowy effort just comes across as lazy marketing.

Artistic Integrity in the Dock: CHARLIZE THERON

Artistic Integrity is a study of one particular artist's contribution to the world of entertainment.
Are they worthy of the accolades or should they be sent down...

The Accused:
CHARLIZE THERON

Following on from our trial of The Huntsman: Winter's War I felt it only fitting that we put one of the witches on the stand after already looking at another of that films leading ladies in the form of Jessica Chastain.
Theron is quite possibly the most famous South African actor of all time.  I also think she is one of the most beautiful actors on the planet, I am not ashamed to say!  Beauty though can often work as a curse, especially for female actors, as it is easy to become typecast or only offered roles that accentuate a person's good looks.
This I feel is true of some of the roles that Theron has taken during her lengthy career.  Thankfully her acting abilities have also seen her in a wide variety of other, more interesting and appealing roles.  She is not an actress who has been happy to be pigeonholed simply because she looks stunning.
Her first big breakout would have to be as Mary Ann Lomax in The Devil's Advocate.  In this role we get our first glimpse of her Chameleon like abilities to alter her appearance.  She goes from this drop dead gorgeous trophy wife to a complete shambling wreck of a woman and the transformation is quite staggering.  Her performance definitely stands out; which is no small feat starring alongside Al Pacino.
After achieving this early success; Theron was to then star in a string of box office bombs.  There was the underwhelming remake of Mighty Joe Young where she plays the surrogate mother to the titular Joe.  This was followed by the slow paced The Astronaut's Wife which failed on lift off with what was potentially a good premise.  The shining light amongst this string of poor choices is The Cider House Rules which is an enjoyable watch and one that sees Theron given some good material to work with.
Things reverted to form in 2000 though with yet more average fare although there was one that I do enjoy.  Like the rest of that year's output; The Legend of Bagger Vance was not a critical or commercial success.  Theron plays southern belle Adele Invergordon and gives a pleasant performance in this feel-good movie with a decent cast.
The next couple of years would see more forgettable films with nothing that particularly stands out.  The upturn in fortunes probably started with The Italian Job.  Now this remake of the English classic which starred Michael Caine takes a different tone to the originals cheeky chappy Rule Britannia atmosphere.
This is a straight up heist with cool tech and iconic Mini Coopers involved in fast chases and suspenseful thrills.  Surprisingly it still works and makes for a good Sunday afternoon movie.  It is also Theron's first real foray into action territory.
The Italian Job would be followed by Theron's most famous, highly praised and awarded role as Aileen Wuornos in Monster.  Here again we see Theron completely transformed from her gorgeous model looks to a wild eyed unhinged serial killer.  This is based on a true story and it is fair to say that Theron inhabits this role body and soul and certainly deserved all the accolades that were heaped on her for this portrayal.
It wasn't too long before another well received, acclaimed role was on the cards for her as Josey Aimes in North Country.  Again Theron shines in a compelling story about fighting a case of sexual harassment in the work place and the obstacles she faces.

After these two hits we would next see her as Æon Flux in the terrible live action version of the cult animation series that appeared on the MTV channel.  I was a huge fan of the animated show and was looking forward to this, especially with the casting of Theron in the title role.  To say I was disappointed with the outcome would be an understatement!
She was quick to get back on form though with 2007's In the Valley of Elah which is a great crime drama dealing with some really tough subject matter.  Theron easily adapts to what is another different genre for her.  Around this time she had a smaller role as Britt Ekland in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.   She is perfectly cast as the 60's & 70's bombshell.
Theron tried her hand in the superhero genre when she starred alongside Will Smith in Hancock.  It might have made a fortune at the box office but I was not impressed.  There were no surprises whatsoever throughout the plot.  It is just a by the numbers outing that relies on its star power to bring in an audience which to its credit worked.
John Hillcoat's The Road is a very divisive film; there are those that hate it and those that love it; despite its dark, bleak subject matter.  I fall somewhere in the middle, as it is a hard film to quantify on a simple love/hate scale.  Theron plays the wife of the story who we only see in flashback scenes, but she gives a solid performance and her appearance isn't just a cameo.
Young Adult is one of the highlights of her career.  Her character Mavis Gary is one of the most complex people she has played.  There is plenty to despise about her but she is also someone with serious problems that make you feel real pity too.  Theron again is perfectly cast and is able to show off her comic ability as there are some really funny moments.
I have already said how I felt about her as Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman in my previous post where I said she was good in the role.  She is able to show her dark nature but also portray a woman scared of falling apart as age catches up to her.  I won't repeat myself about Huntsman Winter's War and leave it to you to read my musings on that one below...
This brings us to Prometheus.  The question still remains: is Meredith Vickers an android or a human?  That isn't the only unanswered question though from this confusing mess of a film.  It might look pretty but this is another one of her films that I just didn't connect with.
Moving on from a film that explored the beginning of life and God and many other deep topics; we come to one dealing with fart jokes and sexual innuendo with A Million Ways to Die in the West.  You probably couldn't get two more different movies.  Theron again shows that she can handle comedy; it is just a pity that the whole film isn't as funny to match the effort she puts in.
Finally we get to what will probably become her most iconic role as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.  I don't want to go into too much detail here as I plan to cover this in a future article.  Needless to say she is superb in this instalment of the Mad Max franchise.
There are some interesting projects on the horizon with Kubo and the Two Strings being the one that appeals the most.  This will be her first foray as a voice actor; discounting the narrator role she had for Astro Boy.  Brain on Fire also sounds promising which will be another biographical drama.  She will also be joining the Fast & Furious franchise in Fast 8 but I won't be catching that one; it isn't something that appeals to me.  Lastly is The Coldest City which is a graphic novel adaptation, I only hope it is better than Æon Flux.

Verdict:
While she has starred in some good films; Charlize Theron has also had her fair share of duds.  Despite playing a witch on more than one occasion though, her good output is enough to keep her from the gallows for now.

Splitting a portion of this persons back catalogue into what I would "go to" and what I would choose to "avoid"; given the choices I would categorise this entertainers output as thus...
The Scorcher's:

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Young Adult
• North Country
• Monster

The Torture's:

• Hancock
• Æon Flux
• Prometheus

Film: "The Huntsman: Winter's War"

The Witch Trial:
Is this sequel to a rather average telling of the story of Snow White actually worth the bother?

Who:
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain
What:
Fantasy Adventure
Why:
Both a prequel and a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman
When:
Released 2016
Where:
Set in a mystical fairy tale world

The Case For:
When Snow White and the Huntsman made double its budget at the box office you could bet that the studio would consider turning this into a franchise and expanding on the mythology.  Whilst I didn't particularly think this was a good film, I did find it passable for a bit of light entertainment.  Kristen Stewart might have been as annoying as hell but both Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron were quite pleasant.
My main issue was that I felt it would have made for a better film overall if it wasn't weighed down with being a Snow White story.  I thought with a bit of tweaking this could have been more of an original work while still taking some cues from the brothers Grimm Snow White fairy tale.  After all the screenwriters didn't follow that tale to the letter anyway so why not go the whole hog and make this its own thing?
The answer to this question is quite simply that Snow White is an easily recognisable name and fantasy films do not normally perform well at the box office unless there is something already there that audiences are aware of.  Without having Snow White I also doubt they would have ended up with the cast they did.
Regardless of all that, a Snow White tale is what we did end up with.  The Huntsman also got top billing and after Hemsworth's swashbuckling efforts were reasonably well praised; it came as no surprise that the focus of the sequel would revolve around his character.
In the first movie there was mention that Hemsworth's character Eric had lost his wife but how that tragic event had occurred was not explained.  Winter's War uses that premise for one of its storylines.  We will find out how Eric and his bride Sara, played by Jessica Chastain, first meet and fall in love.  Love will be the main theme of the film as it is the betrayal of love that causes the main antagonist Freya to turn into the evil Ice Queen.
Freya is played by Emily Blunt who first appears to be a young sweet girl who has fell for an already married man.  After giving birth to an illegitimate daughter from this relationship, things take a turn for the worse as Freya unleashes her inner powers and kills her lover after he confesses to murdering their child.  None of this is a spoiler as it all takes place in the first ten minutes of the film to set up what comes later.
Needless to say Ravenna encourages her sister to harness her powers so she can be a strong ally for her ever growing ambition.  Freya as the Ice Queen moves north and proceeds to conquer this territory with her army.  It is at this time that she takes in the orphaned children of the villages she conquers; with both Eric and Sara being amongst them.  These children are then trained to become part of her expanding forces.
As our two heroes grow they naturally fall for one another; which is something that Freya won't allow and Eric is cast from her realm to become the drunkard we see in the Snow White and the Huntsman film.  Events then fast forward to seven years after the events that were depicted in that movie.
Sam Claflin's King William sends Eric on a mission from Queen Snow White to retrieve the stolen mirror and take it to Sanctuary; the idyllic place where the dwarves took both Eric and Snow White in the first film.
This then becomes the focus for the remainder of the film as we learn that Freya is also trying to get her hands on the mirror so she can harness its power for herself.  Eric will reluctantly be helped in his quest by the returning Nick Frost as the dwarf Nion along with his half-brother Gryff who is portrayed by Rob Brydon.
Along the way this trio will be joined by two female dwarves in the form of Doreena and Bromwyn as played by Alexandra Roach and Sheridan Smith respectively.  Both of these characters are welcome additions to the cast, particularly Bromwyn who has some of the best moments of the film with her interaction with Gryff.  Smith and Brydon both look like they had fun playing off one another and I am sure there would be a decent gag reel out there from the scenes that these two share together.
Even though the budget for this sequel was only two thirds of the original they still manage to excel in the costuming department.  The outfits and design are excellent particularly the design for Freya which had to be suitably different to that of her sister Ravenna.  They both complement one another rather well despite the difference in look.
The special effects aren't up to the same standard as the original but are still visually appealing, especially in the icy landscape of Freya's kingdom and the spells and tricks she uses.  Once again Sanctuary looks like something straight out of a fairy tale; suiting the subject matter to a tee.
Chris Hemsworth slides seamlessly back into the role of Eric which shouldn't be too hard a task for him considering the character isn't a million miles away from his portrayal of Thor; just a bit more crude and tipsy!  He seems to breeze through these types of roles, but the material he is working with is not exactly Shakespeare.  Still he does light up what is otherwise dire fare and has one of the best moments of the film when asking Sara if she was suitably impressed by the way he dispatches one particular foe.

The Case Against:
Where do I begin with what I found to be wrong with this particular tale?  Let us start with the studio.
Snow White and the Huntsman was not a huge success; a moderate one, but not so successful that it warranted a sequel.  Obviously though, Universal felt differently and thought the cash it brought in was adequate enough to milk this cow for all it was worth.
So how does a studio go about maximising profits from an undeserved follow up?  What generally happens with sequels is that they work on the law of diminishing returns; so understandably the budget for this follow up was cut dramatically to help maximise profits.  The budget was still adequate enough that it didn't affect their ability to put together another top notch cast to draw the audience in.
Those cuts though definitely affected one area where the first film was particularly strong and that was in the effects department.  While some of the effects as I have mentioned were fine, others certainly were not up to scratch.  I found them to be really substandard when it came to Ravenna but more on that later.  Not only was it apparent here but also with some of the creature creations too.  It was definitely damaging to the overall enjoyment of an already weak story.
This brings us to the screenplay which I found to be a big issue.  This is obviously another area where costs were saved.  The original had Hossein Amini amongst its writers who has some respectable screenwriting credits; amongst them Nicolas Winding Refn's excellent Drive.  John Lee Hancock who was the writer and director of The Blind Side; which was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, was also part of the writing team.
Now compare those credentials to that of the two men charged with writing The Huntsman Winters War: Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin.  The former has at least half a dozen, direct to DVD, money grabbing sequels to his name and the only film of any note is Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson.  Craig Mazin's credits are even more disheartening as he was involved in writing a bunch of spoof movies including some of the Scary Movie sequels.  While I found the original The Hangover to be quite refreshing I felt that it was a one shot film that did not require any further additions; however the studio obviously saw the dollars coming in and thought differently.  And Mr Mazin was one of the writers responsible for not one but both of the atrocious follow ups.
Is it any wonder then that the screenplay for this movie is plain and simply just terrible?  Tonally it is all over the place with its character development.  Freya at first appears to be a humble, innocent person who is caught up in a romantic liaison and then turns into a love hating tyrant.  By the end I am not sure if she is supposed to redeem herself or not.  I cannot fathom how the audience is supposed to feel any pity for her character when she is responsible for conquering the whole of the northern realms of this land by committing what is basically genocide?

Freya destroys the local towns and villages; slaughters any parents and kidnaps the children to then turn them into soldiers; or huntsmen as she terms them for her army.  Those children then become responsible for the deaths of other villagers as the cycle continues.  This only leads to one conclusion that the supposedly heroic Eric and his beau Sara are nothing short of war criminals when you analyse their actual roles in Freya's horde of huntsmen.
Although we don't actually see them committing these crimes, it is heavily insinuated but in a way that the younger viewer probably won't pick up on it.  We then have a scene where Eric connects with another frightened child who has probably seen her parents butchered by if not Eric, then one of his cohorts, but we are supposed to see his soft side as he coaxes this child to join the rest of the slave children as they enter Freya's servitude.
This storyline takes away all the goodwill and swashbuckling heroism of Eric that had been built during the first instalment of the series.  Instead when viewed correctly Eric is actually a brutal killer.  Even though he was taken away as a child and raised to take part in mass murder it does not excuse his character at all and the same goes for Sara.  To try and distract us from this depiction, we are fed the love story of Eric and Sara and their plans to run away from Freya's kingdom where love has been banned under her rule!
What's that I hear you say, Freya has banned anyone from falling in love?  Yes, considering she was betrayed by love it means no one else is allowed to feel love in her realm.  Apparently that is a good enough reason for her army to commit the atrocities they do and so ensure that love does not rear its ugly head as long as Freya reigns.
I have seen some pretty flimsy premises before in films but this one is right up near the top for sheer ridiculousness.  I know this is supposed to be a fairy tale and that in the end love is supposed to conquer all; but come on how are you supposed to take such a ruling seriously?  It is simply preposterous.  How would her realm prosper and grow without population growth?
Well it seems that it doesn't matter because any hint of a family unit gets destroyed once her huntsmen roll into town.  I cannot stress enough how much this storyline annoyed me and destroyed any chance I had of investing in these characters.
Now that I have vented about that particular gripe let us move onto the subject of Freya and Ravenna.  In Snow White and the Huntsman we saw the uncomfortably close relationship that Ravenna and her brother Finn shared but at no time, even during the flashback scene to when they were young, did we have any mention of a younger sister.
However, here the writers had no problem conveniently doing a little retcon and adding in this sibling to service the plot they had come up with.  They could hardly use Finn due to his death in the first film but it is interesting that he makes no appearance and nor does he get any mention in the prequel scenes establishing the story.  Not a lot of people return for this sequel though so it is not surprising that Finn has disappeared from the story.
From the six dwarves we only have Nick Frost's Nion appear in Winter's War.  I guess they couldn't afford six of them this time around and went for the cheapest one.  They still introduce a new dwarf though, Nion's half-brother Gryff; played by the equally cost effective Rob Brydon.  Now Gryff himself is okay but why would you cast Brydon with his distinct Welsh accent to play the half-brother to Nick Frost who has an obvious London accent?
Because they don't care is the only answer I can come up with.  They don't care that his character is so different to all the other dwarves that have come before and they don't care that his characterisation is different to the two female dwarves who they meet on their exploration of the north.  Their dialect is more in common with Nion and the other dwarves from the first film.  Are we just supposed to go along with it and assume that the parent they both share had an affair whilst exploring a different region of the land where people sound like they are from Wales?
You would imagine that at some point Nion and Gryff had some shared living due to them being aware of the other existing.  I would assume this close proximity would influence them starting to sound similar as they grow together.  I am probably over analysing though but it was a distracting part of their characters.  Again I can only come back to the casting director not caring about Brydon's accent because he thought he would be amusing in the role.

Getting back to the characters who didn't return for this outing and we have to discuss the most glaring omission: Snow White herself.  Ignoring the controversy surrounding her affair with Rupert Sanders and the supposed impact that had on her appearing in any further instalments; not having her appear here seems like a massive misstep.
The story of Snow White has a large target audience of females of a younger age group.  The tone of the original film already alienated children with its darker themes and I doubt many parents would have thought it was suitable for six to nine year olds familiar with Snow White.  Therefore the filmmakers are aiming at an audience of both male and female from the age of ten upwards, with a strong focus on the teen market.
Of course having Chris Hemsworth's hulking masculinity on screen will still garner you many female viewers.  Hemsworth alone though is not enough to bring the same audience back for a second screening when you take Snow White out of the narrative.  Add to this the appeal of Kristen Stewart's fan base from her time playing the heroine in The Twilight Saga.  A large portion of those fans would have come to the first film in this series hoping to see a similar fantasy romance featuring the actor.
A large portion still want the romance of the Snow White story in Winter's War but are robbed of seeing what happened between Snow White and Sam Claflin's William as the focus switches solely to the Huntsman's tale.  Speaking of Claflin, we get a very brief cameo from him which is so small he might as well have not bothered.
In place of the Snow White/William story we get Eric and Sara's journey of love which is dealt with in such a heavy handed manner.  One minute they can't keep their eyes off one another before being kept apart by Freya's machinations.  Upon their reunion a few years later they do not reconcile straight away because Eric always promised to be there for Sara; but couldn't keep that promise through no fault of his own.  It's another stupid plot point designed so that once they do eventually end up as a couple we are supposed to get all warm and fuzzy inside because they are actually still in love; but it fails miserably.
Jessica Chastain looks like she would rather be elsewhere.  Doing a bit of research I found an article about her being contractually obliged to do this role as part of the agreement in place for her getting the role in Crimson Peak.  So it is little wonder that she appears to just be going through the motions throughout this film.
There is a distinct passage of time from the prequel section to the films conclusion.  Well I don't know what is in the water in the land of Tabor or what their diet consists of but whatever it is, please give me some.  No one ages at all.  Ravenna and Freya look the same during the flashbacks as to what they look like at the end of the movie.  Don't forget that in between all this Freya has kidnapped Eric and Sara as children who have grown into adulthood amongst her troops.  Freya has not changed during this whole period.  Eric and Sara are separated for at least seven years but in that time don't look like they age a day.
Ravenna has also conquered King Magnus' kingdom while Snow White was a child; who in turn reconquers Tabor when she grows up.  Now we know how Ravenna kept her youthful looks but we also know that upon her defeat she ages as she perishes in the first film.  However it seems that once you are resurrected you get to come back at your most beautiful best as that is exactly what happens when Ravenna returns.
Charlize Theron's appearance might as well be listed as a cameo for the amount of time she spends on screen.  She only agreed to appear again if she was paid the same amount of money as Hemsworth.  I don't have anything against equal pay for female actors but when you consider how small her role is, it seems ludicrous her pay was on par with Hemsworth.  This is another example of where money could have been better spent on creating a more appealing film.
I said earlier how much I disliked the effects of Ravenna when she regains her strength and power.  I have no idea what the black tentacle goop was supposed to be during the climactic battle.  I can only surmise that it is supposed to be some sort of throwback to her raven shape shifting ability from the original.  If they were meant to be feathers then they failed miserably.
My final issue is with Freya's Ice Queen.  Now Elsa from Frozen was originally supposed to turn into an evil snow queen but the writers decided, after a lot of consultation, to change the story to one focussed on true love.  It seems that Mazin and Spiliotopoulos took the original concept from Frozen and used it for Winter's War.  They made Freya a sibling to the existing Ravenna resulting in two evil sisters; as opposed to the caring relationship depicted in Frozen.  They then twist the true love theme to one of love's betrayal and voila had the basis for their screenplay.
I can only imagine that people at Disney have seen the similarity in Winter's War to their first ideas on how to depict Elsa and realise they dodged a bullet by making the changes they did.  Shudder at the thought that Frozen might have ended up like this mess!

Verdict:
Grab your pitchforks and torches.  Let the cry commence "Burn the Witch!"

Evidence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Huntsman:_Winter%27s_War
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381991/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Huntsman