Snow White

The Classic Story Comes to Life ... AGAIN!

As you may recall, or not, two distinct movies based on Snow White, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, debuted within a few months of each other in 2012. Costume Designers Eiko Ishioka and Colleen Atwood both received Oscar nominations, while Sandy Powell has a fair shot at making next year's lineup for Disney's Snow White. Let's see how Disney's pioneering animated movie does in live-action.

In this film, Snow White (Rachel Zegler) was born during a snowstorm, hence her name. Her goodly parents taught her to be nice, which she tries to do even as her Wicked Stepmother (Gal Gadot) oppresses her people. One day, the Queen's Magic Mirror (Patrick Page) tells Her Evilness that Snow White is the fairest in the land, which doesn't sit well with her. So, she gets her Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to kill her out in the woods. It's mostly the usual stuff.

But The Huntsman takes pity on Snow White and tells her to run into the spooky woods. There, she comes across the Seven Dwarfs, who mostly welcome her to stay for a night. She also meets Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is a Bandit King instead of a Prince Charming, but she still falls for him the same. Unfortunately, the Queen's murderous jealousy is out to spoil the fun. Again, it's mostly the usual.

For the most part, Erin Cressida Wilson's screenplay is a reasonable expansion of the original 1937 film. All of the original film's bullet points are decently expanded upon, giving us a film almost a half-hour longer than its predecessor. For starters, Jonathan has more of a screen presence than Prince Charming, even restoring a subplot Disney's animators couldn't do in the day. He has good chemistry with Snow White, even if it feels a bit like a typical "rogue meets girl" romance. It maybe typical, but it's not a dealbreaker. We also get a surprising narrator, a cruel twist to the poison apple, and a strong soundtrack with new Pasek & Paul songs and catchy renditions of surviving classics.

Sure, Rachel Zegler doesn’t match Snow White’s literary description, but she’s still compelling in the role. Throughout the film, she struggles to be kind in an unkind world, which nearly kills her a few times. Her shock at the Huntsman’s coerced betrayal is devastating. But it’s quite nice to see her kindness rewarded by her citizens. She even wins against the Queen by appealing to her guards’ good nature. Her new “I Want” Song, Waiting on a Wish, neatly epitomizes her good nature, while this film’s rendition of Whistle While You Work gives her a fun number with the Dwarfs. This version of Snow White stands quite nicely alongside her 2D counterpart.

The Dwarfs, on the other hand, are a different story. They're portrayed with motion capture that doesn't quite conquer the uncanny valley, to say the least. It sometimes works, namely when the Dwarfs despair over Snow White's apparent death, but it still feels a bit off. I kept losing track of Sneezy and Happy, multiple times, in the crowd shots, but the rest were easy to figure out. Dopey, in particular, is the best visualized of the Dwarfs. But did they all have to be motion capture?

What else do we have here? The Evil Queen's villain song, All is Fair, is fascinatingly over-the-top, as most villain songs should be. Gadot makes for a decent villain, whether as a young Queen or an old hag, and her villainous breakdown is quite impressive. Jonathan's fellow bandits, on the other hand, are pretty superfluous, save, somewhat, for Quigg (George Appleby) the crossbow enthusiast. The best bit of visual trickery is when, early on, the camera pans down on young Snow White's (Emilia Flaucher) feet, then pans up to show her grown up. All in one shot! Jeff Morrow's score asserts itself splendidly amidst the songs, while the sets and costumes are all nice to look at.

Well, what else can I say? If this new Snow White doesn't appeal to you, I'm sure I can recommend a few other renditions of the fairy tale. In fact, I can point to a few that even pre-date Disney! As for me, this Snow White isn't the greatest film ever made, but it certainly isn't boring. Some may find this unnecessary, along with most of Disney's recent remakes, but it's still a decent time at the movies. And really, there's nothing wrong with that, at all. Nothing.

That's it for now.