Snow White and the Huntsman had a lot of baggage to overcome as I headed into my screening. With it being the second cinematic retelling of the beloved fairy tale this year (Tarsem’s Mirror Mirror being the first), as well as featuring a first-time director along with a producer from Tim Burton’s lackluster Alice in Wonderland, it’s easy to see why one would go into this film with little to no optimism. Much to my surprise, I came away quite enjoying the dark version of Snow White’s tale.
Snow White and the Huntsmanfollows the gist of the tale, with some embellishments that actually work at enhancing and enriching the overall story, although some of these ideas fall by the wayside near the end as the film becomes primarily action focused.
One of the biggest differences is with the Queen, portrayed wonderfully, if a tad over the top, by Charlize Theron. Here, the queen is given a bit of a back story, a purpose and a name; Ravenna. Early on Snow White’s mother is killed and it’s not long before the mysterious and beautiful Ravenna works her way into the King’s heart and they are married within a day. It’s seemingly only a day more before Ravenna plunges a knife into the King’s heart, whilst hinting at a bit of her back story that seems very compelling but sadly is never gone back to again.
With Ravenna now Queen and in complete power of the lands, she has most of the surrounding populace murdered and locks young Snow White (Kristen Stewart) in the castle for, well, it never tells you why she locks her up rather than kill her. Another example of bad guys making dumb decisions, I suppose.
Years go by and Ravenna’s magic is beginning to take its toll on her, revealing the aged witch she truly is. Before she can make Snow White her latest victim of “youth soul stealing,” Snow manages to escape to the dark forests. Ravenna is furious and hires the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track down Snow White, but upon doing so decides to join sides with the fairest maiden of them all and thus begins the threadwork to take down the Queen and end her tyrannical reign.
On paper, the movie sounds fairly beat by beat with the fairy tale, but it does allow itself some detours, none of which I shall spoil here. Where the movie truly shines, though, is within its visual presentation. Yes, it’s CGI heavy, but much of it works really well. The whole film has a dark, mucky atmosphere that in some instances recalls fantasy favorites Legend and The Dark Crystal. There are two specific visual scenes, one rather nightmarish and one very light and fairy tale-ish, that absolutely wowed me and left me thinking a lighter Del Toro.
Coupled with these impressive visuals is a performance from Charlize Theron that plays equal parts subdued and over the top. From her early scene with the King to scenes of her just examining herself in her fabled mirror, there’s a refreshing quality to the less is more approach in those scenes. Unfortunately, they are counterbalanced with many over the top, evil villain moments that aren’t necessarily bad, but aren’t quite as good in comparison.
One of my biggest problems with Snow White and the Huntsman is that in no world ever is Kristen Stewart going to be considered anything above Charlize Theron. This is an initial gut reaction based solely on looks, but having seen the movie, it’s a comparison that holds even more weight. The Snow White character is used here as much more of a symbol of innocence than as a character, at least until she becomes a warrior out of nowhere. With that idea, there’s not a lot for the character to do and, God bless her, Kristen Stewart just doesn’t have a whole lot of range going on in the emotions category. She plays most of the movie with one look; open mouthed confusion. I will say that by the end when the action ramps up, Stewart seems to be in a completely different way almost enjoying herself, and it does wonders for her portrayal.
One of the biggest surprises, since I don’t recall them ever being in any trailer, is seeing the dwarves show up. What’s even more bizarre is that they are comprised of some wonderful actors (Ian McShane, Nick Frost, Bob Hoskins) who have their heads digitally placed onto the bodies of dwarf actors. It’s incredibly jarring at first once you recognize the faces, but the digital work is done really well and never looks phony, save for Bob Hoskins who reads every line directly into the camera in a strange rhythm throughout his scenes.
All in all, Snow White and the Huntsman is a fairly decent film and an exceptional job for first time director Rupert Sanders. The script can be a bit lacking, but it’s a visual tour de force that helps hide some of the weaker performances. It’s also nice to see the two main protagonists in a film of this style be women. There is an idea of gender roles within fairy tales and this one feels like it wants to flip those on its head, and for the most part it does. I just wish it had got a bit more in depth in doing so.
– Matt Hardeman
