Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) - Movie Review

Early on in Snow White and the Huntsman, the Evil Queen stares into the magic mirror and says her famous line, "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, who is fairest of them all?"  The CG-mirror comes alive and says, "You, Charlize, you're the fairest.  Duh!"  Then the movie fades to black and the credits roll.  Total running time: 7 minutes.  Okay, that isn't what really happens, but it would have been funny if it did.

This year we get not one, but two, updated editions of the Snow White story.  Just two months ago, we had Mirror Mirror (you can read my review here), and now we have Snow White and the Huntsman.  Where Mirror Mirror was a light and silly version of the story, Snow White and the Huntsman tries to tell a darker and more violent version.  Neither really deviates from the established story we're all familiar with at this point, so there's no need to go into the plot.

The good news is that Snow White and the Huntsman is a better movie than Mirror Mirror.  Like Mirror Mirror, it's a great looking film.  The set and costume design, along with the makeup and special effects are all top notch.  There are some great looking creatures and many interesting things to look at throughout.  However, while I appreciate the fact they tried to do something a little different, in a lot of ways it felt like this was just a Lord of the Rings or Narnia knockoff.  Don't get me wrong, I like they made a Snow White film that focuses on those fantasy elements and brings a little more action.  If their goal was to make a version that appealed to guys more, then I think they succeeded.

One of the cooler aspects of SWatH is what they did with the dwarves.  They cast regular-sized actors in the roles, but through the magic of special effects shrunk them down to size.  Many of them, despite being played by well known actors, were almost unrecognizable.  I had to watch the credits just to make sure I was right about a few of them.  Partially due to the quality of the actors playing the dwarves (Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Toby Jones, Nick Frost, Bob Hoskins, etc.), they seemed more serious and less jokey than what we've seen in other versions of Snow White.  It's unfortunate they wait so long to introduce them, as I think we're well past that halfway point before they're brought in, but they end up being one of the stronger aspects of the movie.

Charlize Theron gives it her all as Queen Revenna, but I expected nothing less.  I've said it before, but it always seems like actors have more fun playing the evil character.  There's more to sink your teeth into and play with emotionally.  I do think Theron was just on the edge of overdoing it a bit, but she's still the most memorable performance.

I actually didn't mind Kristen Stewart for a change, despite my initial concerns that she had been miscast as Snow White.  I don't know if it was from the direction or her fixing some of her tics, but she certainly seemed to cut back on the excessive blinking and shivering that's plagued her other performances.  I coined the term 'chihuahua acting' a few years ago when describing what she always reminded me of.  I still wish her default expression wasn't an open mouth stare, as if she's a mouth-breather.  I thought she did a good job with the accent and emoting a little more, but I didn't find her character all that interesting.  She's just kind of there, but I don't really blame that on her performance.

Chris Hemsworth did a good job as the Huntsman, but I felt his character was a little one-dimensional.  In fact, I don't recall if they ever actually say his name during the movie other than call him 'Huntsman'.  Outside of the Queen, pretty much all of the characters seemed a little flat, and you don't really learn much about them.  Here's another movie where we have a trio of writers (Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini), but somehow it all felt underwritten.

I think the lack of character development is magnified by the fact that the movie, at 127 minutes, is at least 20 minutes too long.  As the movie slugs along, these flaws are magnified.  We all know how the story is going to play out, so why stretch it?  This is where I think director Rupert Sanders let the movie get away from him a bit.  It's a good effort for a first time director though, and I'm sure he's going to get more chances after this to show what he can do.  Had he tightened the run time a bit, this would have been so much better.

Overall, Snow White and the Huntsman is a great looking and fairly entertaining movie.  It's flawed, but not so much that I left feeling disappointed or like I wasted my time with it.  It has a broader appeal than Mirror Mirror due to it's tone and action focus.  However, at PG-13, the dark and violent nature of this version might be a little too much for young kids.  I put this movie in the matinee range.

3 (out or 5) - Death Stars

Mirror Mirror (2012) - Movie Review

I've said in the past that I like Tarsem Singh. I think he has a very cool visual style. However, after the disappointment that was Immortals and his own public admission that a story wasn't as important to him as the visuals were, I was kind of nervous about seeing Mirror Mirror.  The first trailer didn't help things, which looked cheesy as hell, like it was some bad Disney movie brought to life.

Fortunately, Mirror Mirror isn't as bad as those initial trailers looked.  In fact, some of the jokes from that trailer were absent from the film.  Perhaps they heard the grumbles from the audience and removed some of those elements.  It was a good decision if that was the case.

Anyone vaguely familiar with the story of Snow White already knows the basics.  There's nothing ground breaking here, so I'm not even going to recap the story or get into it.  It's simply yet another interpretation of the story of Snow White.  Hell, we're getting another one this summer with Snow White and the Huntsman.  The huge problem with that upcoming flick is that they cast Kristen Stewart as Snow White, so you can expect a lot of weird stuttering, excessive eye blinking and head shaking from that.  I'll take Lily Collins as Snow White to go, please!

One comment I heard about Mirror Mirror that was kind of funny to me was that this didn't do anything new with the story.  What exactly can they do with it that's new at this point?  Change the outcome?  Kill Snow White at the end?  Trust me, if they had changed the story too much, the very same people would complain about how they deviated too much from the well established story.  It's a dumb criticism to me.

The movie, especially Lily Collins as Snow White, is gorgeous.  It's weird because before this movie, I really had never taken notice of Collins before.  It's similar to how I viewed Amy Adams before she played a Disney princess in Enchanted.  I never really noticed her before either.  Now Collins has effectively played Snow White, I'm totally into her.  Maybe I just have a Disney or princess fetish.

I'm getting way off topic.  The movie is gorgeous though.  Nearly every shot in the film has something vibrant or vivid to look at.  That's Tarsem Singh for you.  Even his movies that haven't been received well still look great.  At least he delivers on that aspect.

I think what would have made Mirror Mirror really stand out would have been a stronger script.  Once again we have a first time writer Melissa Wallack and co-writer Jason Keller (Machine Gun Preacher) involved in the screenplay.  Again, I think a more experienced writing team or a good punch up writer would have really helped.

While the look of the movie makes this feel like it's more of an adult tale, much of the humor seems to be directed at kids.  I did hear pretty much everyone of all ages laughing at the film though.  Even I laughed a few times, so take that for what it's worth.  There's still some really lame, childish jokes though and they make Armie Hammer do some things I felt were beneath him.  I still really like him as an actor though, and that he's getting more work.  He's moving towards leading man status, and I could see him playing a superhero if he'd start hitting the weights.

I've gone on about Lily Collins enough, but I really did like her here.  I thought she played the part really well and they did a good job with making Snow White a stronger character.  It seemed believable that Armie Hammer's Prince could fall for her so quickly.  I also really liked Julia Roberts.  She's such an effective bitch here and it seems like she was having a lot of fun with the role.  Nathan Lane also did a good job.  I felt the movie was best when it focused on the interaction between Snow White and the Dwarves.  They did a good job in a short time showing why they liked each other.

There's also a very nice cameo at the end that most of you will get a kick out of.  That's about all I can say about it.  Don't want to spoil it for you.  Wouldn't be prudent.  However, during the end credits there was a very overproduced Bollywood number that I felt was totally out of place.  I could have done without it.

Mirror Mirror overall is a cute movie.  It's visually stunning and actually has pretty good acting across the board.  The crowd I saw it with was pretty mixed and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  I even heard a smattering of applause as it ended.  I do feel like this is still more of a kids film, with a sprinkle of adult themes.  It is the type of movie you can take your kids to see and you'll probably end up feeling like you didn't waste your time with it.  I think this will really appeal to a young audience and they will identify with this incarnation of Snow White.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars