I’d like to think I’m not prone to hyperbole, so believe me when I say I’m putting all my remaining Marvel eggs in the Thor: Ragnarok basket. Sure, I’ve more-or-less enjoyed most of the movies in the franchise — this year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, for example, might be one of their best yet — but superhero movies are like anything else: the more you ingest, the less you enjoy it the next time around. If Marvel is going to continue making these movies until the sun explodes, then I’m ready for things to get a little bit weird, and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is the right person to deliver.
There are ordinary, everyday ripoffs and there are thefts so bold they’re almost impressive in the degree of their thievery. What I admire about The Huntsman: Winter’s War, the sorta-prequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, is that very shamelessness. They basically swapped out Snow White (she’s a baby here; she grew up to be Kristen Stewart in the first movie) for Elsa from Frozen. They’re not even pretending. They just want all the little girls who loved Frozen and are now three years older to come check out this movie.