THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR (**1/2)

(2016) Kristen Stewart - possibly the most annoying part of Snow White and the Huntsman - isn't around for the sequel, and while the film is better for it The Huntsman: Winter's War suffers itself from an incredible amount of predictability.  When the openhearted, loving Queen Freya (Emily Bunt), sister to the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron), falls in love and gives birth to a baby girl, tragedy strikes when Freya's lover murders the baby, unleashing such grief and hatred in Frey that her considerable powers to create ice and snow from her fingertips come frighteningly to life.  Heart forever turned dark, Freya moves north and creates her own ice kingdom, stealing all the children of local villagers to turn into her ever-growing army, as well as school them in the stupidity of believing in love or even mercy.  Two of these children grow up and fall in love, and when the queen learns of their "weakness" she sees that Sara (Jessica Chastain) is murdered, while Eric (Chris Hemsworth) is left for dead in a freezing river.  But Eric survives, and years later when he learns Queen Snow White herself is ill and Ravenna's magic mirror is missing, he sets out with a pair of dwarfs to find it, even as Freya sets her army to the same task.  Good visuals and okay acting just don't make up that much for a weak script where you can see what's to come long before it happens - including the ending.  (rated PG-13)