Review:
Snow White and the Huntsman
is visually compelling, with some good action moments but lacks great
characters and fluid pacing. The film is a new, supposedly darker take on the
classic Snow White story – Snow White is a prisoner after Ravenna seduces and
kills her father. However, as she comes of age, Snow White is able to escape
and takes refuge in the dark forest. The Queen (Ravenna) needs Snow White’s
heart to become immortal, so she enlists The Huntsman (who seemingly has no
name) for his knowledge of the dark forest to lead her men in finding Snow
White. However, once The Huntsman lays eyes on her, he is enchanted by her
beauty and rallies to her cause helping her to further escape. But, the Queen
will stop at nothing to regain Snow White and consume her heart, while Snow
White tries to gather an army of her own and take back her kingdom. Director Rupert Sanders gets a lot of
things right, especially the look for this fairytale action adventure. The
world of the film is stepped in magic, fantastical creatures, knights, and
castles. To some extent, the film at different moments feels like past releases
(especially, Willow and The
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) and somewhat lacks its own
identity (a bit like 2010’s Clash
of the Titans which was trying too hard to be a mix of Pirates of the Caribbean and Transformers and not its own
thing). Sanders does a good job introducing the world and characters and the
final battle is well done, but in between the opening and the third act the
film drags horribly. Not only does it meander along seemingly wasting time
until the final confrontation, but it also does not take the opportunity to
flesh out the characters of Snow White, The Huntsman and Ravenna (all three of
which are fairly weak, depending solely on the actors’ performances walking,
running and yelling – providing only exposition and being almost completely
void of real dramatic moments). From the time Snow White escapes the castle in
the first act until she encounters the dwarves (who are one of the bright spots
in the film), the narrative trudges almost to a complete stop, killing all
momentum and interest in the characters and story. Thus, when the third act
finally does arrive, as enthralling as it is, the audience no longer cares and
there are no real stakes as a result. The relationship between Ravenna and Snow
White is ripe with dramatic possibility, but utterly squandered. Though,
Ravenna is probably the most interesting character in the film, as she appears
at different moments both evil and power hungry and emotionally weathered and
even scared and fragile. It is an interesting dichotomy that could have been
further explored. As for Snow White, there is no real internal struggle for
her, no emotional journey. She is resolute about who she is and what she must
do almost right from the get go (which is fine, but does not make for an
interesting protagonist). The Huntsman is the only character to go through any
kind of emotional change (and even his narrative is not fully exploited or resolved
– though, I have read that this is potentially only the first film in a
trilogy, which would then makes sense of why the ending is the way it is for
the characters). The slow pacing and lack of complexity to the characters
greatly detracts from the wonderful visuals, varying locations (the dark
forest, a magical fairyland – that seems like something out of an old Disney
film, a Lord of the Rings-like mountain side, and castles) and battle scenes.
Snow White and the Huntsman is entertaining, visually superb and an almost
great retelling for the classic story (and certainly better than Mirror Mirror from earlier in
the year), but its major deficiencies overpower what could have been something
special (there is probably a great film in there somewhere).
Technical,
aesthetic & acting achievements: Rupert Sanders makes his feature
film debut with Snow White and the Huntsman, having a background in
commercials. Unfortunately for this film, great visuals do not trump having
interesting fleshed out characters and a tight narrative – both areas Sanders
needs to work on for his next feature. James Newton Howard’s score
reinforces the visual and narrative tone of the film, but has sort of a generic
adventure film feel to it and does not stand out (here is a sample). Greig Fraser’s cinematography
does exactly what it needs to do. Snow White and Ravenna project beauty
corresponding to their character – Snow White is innocent and pure, while
Ravenna is more striking and bold. Fraser also does a great job with the
different places the narrative takes the characters. His lighting and
photography gives them each a unique tone and feel. Dominic Watkins, along the same
lines, does a great job designing the look of the film. His sets have the
appropriate level and mix of fairytale fantasy and epicenes, while also keeping
the characters grounded in the gritty realism of battle (or at least as
realistic as a PG-13 rated battle can be). Personally, I really liked the
costumes (especially Ravenna’s wardrobe and Snow White’s armor). Colleen Atwood did a fantastic
job. The cast, despite the lack of great character moments, is good. All eight
of the dwarves are fantastic with Ian
McShane and Bob Hoskins
standing out. Sam Spruell is
great has Ravenna’s emotionally oppressed brother. He plays him to be quite a
tragic character. Sam Claflin
(who is given almost nothing dramatic to do really, and thus has no depth)
plays Snow White’s childhood friend William all grown up fairly straightforward
as a heroic rebel striking out against the Queen’s tyranny. Chris Hemsworth is good as The
Huntsman, showing off both brawn and sensitivity. Charlize Theron’s performance is
easily the most interesting and compelling, but also not entirely great. While
she amply portrays both the strength and terror within Ravenna, her
performances is mostly comprised of her screaming at other characters, without
tact (and maybe that is what Sanders wanted out of the performance). Kristen Stewart (who gets a bad
rap for being a lead in the awful Twilight
Saga, despite being good in a number of indie films) does a good job with Snow
White. She is strong, but maintains the allure and purity of innocence. If only
she was given more dramatic work to do.
Summary
& score: Snow White and the Huntsman is a spectacle of a film with
great battles and visuals, but with weak characters and horrid pacing it is not
much more. 6/10
