Snow White and the Huntsman Review.

Snow White and the Huntsman is the second incarnation of the classic fairy tale to hit the big screen this year after Mirror Mirror earlier in 2012. In this fantasy action adventure take on the world renown classic the Huntsman ordered to kill Snow White ends up becoming a friend, protector and mentor in her quest to vanquish the evil Queen.

The film opens with a narration and a series of flashbacks in order to provide the audience with some of the back story. It feels as though the film makers tried to just feed us information that we didn’t really need and it sets a very slow pace for what is to follow. The narration also wasn’t filled with any kind of emotion and played quite tediously through the speakers. What follows is a lot of the Queen and Snow White doing pretty much nothing at all which forces the first act of the film to trudge along slowly.

Charlize Theron plays the evil Queen and a lot of the attention in the run up to release was focussed on her and her portrayal of the character, however I was left pretty disappointed by her performance; it wasn’t exactly bad but it wasn’t anything to shout about either. There were points of the film where we hadn’t seen the Queen for so long that I had genuinely forgotten she was a part of the film and as an actor that is not something you want the audience to forget. Kristen Stewart becomes the famous princess and does a sturdy job, again though there is something lacking from her performance, she doesn’t exactly ooze charisma on the screen and I’m not sure she does enough to justify the title role in a film expected to be as huge as this.

This take on the fairy tale bases as much emphasis on Snow White as it does the Huntsman and when the Huntsman arrives it is as if the movie shifts up a gear; played by Chris Hemsworth the Huntsman injects some much needed pace and emotion into the film. It seems as though the Huntsman is the only character the writers decided to take their time on, giving him a very emotive back story and motives, something which other characters (particularly the evil Queen) are lacking. You get a real connection with the Huntsman because of Hemsworth’s performance as he continues to make a name for himself following up three great movies: Thor, Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers.

The majority of scenes without the Huntsman aren’t really worth watching but one in particular is worthy of any fantasy film ever. The first time we meet the adult William is when he ambushes a royal carriage and the fight scene that follows is fantastic; the fight scenes throughout the entire movie are actually a joy to behold. William is played by Englishman Sam Claflin who is relatively new to the acting world but previously appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Based on this performance though, is Claflin doesn’t get more high profile acting work then a terrible injustice has been done in the acting world.

Snow White and the Huntsman is a real treat for the eyes. Everything about it just looks fantastic: the landscape, the costumes, the special effects. It all just looks so perfect and Rupert Sanders, the director, creates this incredible fantasy world so well. You never want to take your eyes off the screen.

In my opinion, this is a much better film than the earlier Snow White retelling Mirror Mirror. Whilst some of the characters aren’t as well developed as others the visuals and the Huntsman and William themselves are worth watching this film for alone. As the film goes along it gets stronger and stronger and climaxes very well. It’s definitely worth a watch.

My Rating: 7/10.

Mirror, Mirror… Reflection and Review on the Updated Fairytale

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Mirror Mirror is the first in a long line of fairytale remakes heading to the big screen over the next couple of years. But while its competition in the genre, and natural main rival Snow White and the Huntsman, plan on setting a much darker tone on their stories, Mirror Mirror opts for a lighter, more comedic take on the classic tale.

So the story is pretty obvious. Mirror Mirror is of course about Snow White and her wicked step mother, the Evil Queen. Snow White is sent out to the forest to be killed, yet she is instead let free and ends up living with seven dwarves. However, in this version Snow White learns how to look after herself and become a skilled fighter and thief with the help of the dwarves whilst trying to win back the Prince who is under a love spell condemning him to long for the Evil Queen.

The cast really only carries one big hitter and that is Julia Roberts in the role of the Evil Queen. Roberts does a very good job really; you’re not supposed to like her character and the way that she is played makes you really see what a horrible character she is, not just as a villain but as a human being in general. You will probably find yourself wondering how much you could slap the Queen before you got bored. Lily Collins looks the part as the Evil Queen’s step daughter and heroine, Snow White; she is a perfect fit for the beautiful and innocent young girl and although her acting skills are not fully developed quite yet she certainly has potential.

The laughs are there in Mirror Mirror which is pretty handy considering it is being marketed for its comedy value. Arnie Hammer and Nathan Lane both offer up some laughs in their roles as Prince Alcott and Brighton respectively. But really the dwarves are the main source of comedy and that seems to be their main purpose within the film. A couple of the dwarves in particular, Grub and Half Pint will stand out.

So thats the good parts done with, now for the bad. The dialogue at times is really forced and chunky, placed within the film in order to blatantly feed the audience with information to a point where it is almost insulting the intelligence of the viewers. It felt like people were talking a lot more than they needed to be and the script could have been sharpened up slightly. There were several parts of the film where it felt as though the film had been clumsily put together and instead of flowing seamlessly from one scene to a next it just didn’t fit right.

I also have a problem with Snow White as a heroine. In the Disney film she wasn’t brilliant but that was many years ago now and people’s attitudes and expectations of the character surely would have changed but here she is still that naive princess. Despite learning to fight and look after herself she still needs the help of eight men at the end of the film to overcome ‘the beast’ and throughout the film it seems as though she is easily manipulated and as for the scenes getting her ready for her first kiss, it was very much playing up to little girls’ ideas of being a princess I felt and wasn’t really needed. She just is not a great heroine, but anyway I digress.

The biggest problem was the ending and the less said about how surplus to requirements it is, the better. We are told at the beginning that the King (Snow’s father) was never seen again. That was roughly ten years before the movie took place, the audience can and have accepted that Snow has not got a father anymore so there is really no need to bring him back at the end of the film, let alone let it turn out that he is ‘the beast’. How pointless is that. Really?!

Mirror Mirror, for all of its flaws, is enjoyable and it will probably make you laugh here and there. Its worth a watch at least once, maybe rent it once its out or just wait for it on television, but still worth a watch.

My Rating: 5/10.

The Many Faces of Snow White

Hollywood currently seems to have a thing for rebooting fairy tales. In 2011 we saw Red Riding Hood released to, at very best, mixed reviews. In the pipeline are Hansel and Gretel and Beauty and the Beast, but this year we are being treated (sort of) to two versions of possibly the most famous fairytale of them all: Snow White. Snow White has been adapted many times since the birth of film and television, even being incorporated into an episode of Supernatural. For many people it will be difficult to forget Disney’s romanticisation of the classic story but Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror will be hoping to achieve this, but which is more likely to do so?

Snow White and the Huntsman: Released 1st June 2012.

Snow White and the Huntsman is an action adventure film. It is a twist to the classic fairytale where the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White to the forest to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the evil queen.

Kristen Stewart takes up the role of Snow White in this adaptation with the evil queen being portrayed by Charlize Theron, a very talented actress. Chris Hesworth, of Thor fame, plays the Huntsman and many people will be anticipating his performance as he was recently nominated for the Rising Star award at the BAFTA’s.  Snow White and the Huntsman even manages to pack in the stars to play the dwarves, who have only been seen in set pictures so far, and famous names such as Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Bob Hoskins and Ian McShane all take up the short mantle of being a dwarf. This film sees Rupert Sanders make his feature length debut as director, being known mainly for his work in commercials and short films so there is a heavy weight upon his shoulders as this is one of the most anticipated films of 2012.

The trailer really sets a dark theme for the movie with its beginning looking more like a fantasy war epic than an adaptation of a fairytale, which is good due to the original darkness of the Grimm brothers’ story. We are treated to the evil Queen’s narration and her conversation with the Magic Mirror really giving the storyline to the audience (needlessly perhaps as the story is very well known). The Huntsman looks particularly good and strong and we see him wielding his axes and maybe shown why he will help Snow White as he is bullied by the Queen. There is no hint at a love story in the trailer but we will have to wait and see what comes of that. There is a shot of a fantasy monster confronting Snow White which is interesting; do these creatures exist in this world? Or is it a manifestation of one of the Queen’s spells?

The trailer really focusses more on the Queen than on Snow White and this helps to give a strong indication of how evil the Queen really is. We see her torturing and sucking the life out of her subjects and her power when the Huntsman at first shows slight refusal of what she demands of him. It has been said many times that films are remembered by how well their villain is portrayed and Charlize Theron’s version of the evil Queen could be one of the best characters of the year.

 

Mirror Mirror – The Untold Adventures of Snow White: Released 2nd April 2012.

Mirror Mirror is an adventure comedy movie. An evil Queen steals control of a kingdom and an exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright.

Julia Roberts is the biggest name attached to this film and she leads the cast as the evil Queen. However, before meeting the director of Mirror Mirror Roberts stated that she thought the film was a terrible idea and was a thousand per cent against it (let’s hope it’s not as bad as she thought it would be). Where Snow White and the Huntsman went for recognisable names among their cast Mirror Mirror went for more upcoming stars with Lily Collins portraying Snow White and Armie Hammer playing the Prince, who will have a more prominent role in this movie. Tarsem Singh will be directing; he split critics with his 2006 film The Fall but has failed to impress really with his last attempt Immortals receiving negative reviews from critics. This is his fourth outing as director.

From very early on in the trailer you can see this is a lighter adaptation than Snow White and the Huntsman. It gives the audience a taste of the comedy featured within the film, mainly from Julia Roberts’ character who seems, to me at least, a little more weird rather than evil. Some of the comedy in the trailer comes across as poorly written and forced at times (the ‘puppy love’ potion a fine example of poor comedy) but no doubt it will pick up a few laughs and people will find this sort of thing funny. The trailer really gets going when we get to see Snow White and the dwarves. Lily Collins looks fantastic as the young princess and looks as though she was built to play this part, so fingers crossed the film does that justice. We do get to see the dwarves in this trailer and it looks as though they will be there for comedy relief in places but their kinship and relationship with Snow White looks as though it will be worth watching for.

 

 

Whilst there is a couple of months separating the two films so that they are not in direct competition with one another it seems unlikely that most movie goers will take two trips to see what is, in essence, the same story so it will be interesting to see which film comes out on top. Will audiences choose the comedic elements of Mirror Mirror or the more action driven Snow White and the Huntsman. Either way, the successes or failures of both films will have an effect on the future of Hollywood’s fairytale adaptations.