Snow White & the Huntsman

The trailer looked riveting; a Snow White set in a credible medieval fantasy Europe instead of a land far far away. The wicked stepmother Queen looked more gorgeous and less evil than the cartoon. And the huntsman who was tasked to bring the liver and lungs of Snow White became a co-star the whole movie long.

So hot on the heels of another 2012 Snow White adaptation (Mirror, Mirror); how does this one fare? I have mixed feelings about this one. There are really only two main characters here, Snow White and the sorceress stepmother Queen Ravenna. Looking into a magic mirror, asking who’s the fairest makes sense. Charlize Theron is a timeless beauty. Her portrayal of evil is alluringly dark and visually insidious. You can’t get enough of her.

However, on the other side of the good-bad divide, Snow White, played by the infamous Kristen Stewart of Twilight is a more bungled up character. Sadly to report, Kristen has yet again reprised her role as Bella. In the beginning, I could forgive her as she played the captive princess, locked up high in the prison tower. But towards the end (no spoilers here as the trailers already foretold the ending), Bella would lead an army against the evil Queen Ravenna.

The most cringe-worthy moment comes when Bella, I mean Snow White, tries to rally the troops to wage war on Ravenna. I could compare such a moment when the kids in the Narnia movies tried to rally animals to fight against the monsters. The Narnian kids were a lot more convincing than Bella, I mean Snow White. Instead of a leader imbued with kingly charisma, Kristen Stewart acted like a whiny teenager throwing a hissy fit because her little brother took the remote.

While the dark forces were deviously delicious, the good forces were curiously contrived. There was a scene where Snow White was ‘blessed’ by a goat or something in some fairy land. And what is the outcome of that blessing? Nothing. Why put it in there?

Also notable is the lack of scripted humour. The real winners here however are Charlize Theron’s interpretation of wicked Queen AND her costumes. This is this movie’s lasting legacy. I’d give this one a 5.