Running Time: 109 minutes
This feature from Walt Disney Studios opens at cinemas on March 21st.
Of all the films that have been released in the past few months, it’s hard to imagine that a live-action reimagining of a Disney animated classic would be the one to generate so much controversy. But that’s the world we’re living in right now and the buzz surrounding the latest version of Snow White that is arriving in theaters.
Personally (and unlike some of the audience members I heard talking after the screening), I don’t really care about story alterations and differences from the 1937 Disney feature. That film wasn’t the first adaptation of the original Brothers Grimm tale and it made its own changes to the written source material. Movies reflect the era and attitudes of people of the time period in which they are produced, and new takes should always offer something fresh. It would be dull to tell the tale in exactly the same way every time. The newest version of Snow White does include a few interesting alterations. Unfortunately, others don’t gel as well and the end result is a hodgepodge.
A lengthy narration (from a character whose identity is revealed late in the picture) opens proceedings, telling viewers about the birth of the title character. After the death of Snow White’s mother, the Good Queen (Lorena Andrea), the King (Hadley Fraser) marries an Evil Queen (Gal Gadot). It isn’t long before the leader disappears, and his beauty-obsessed bride takes control of the kingdom. Snow White (Rachel Zegler) is forgotten, but decides to speak up for thief Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) after he is caught stealing food for the hungry. When the Evil Queen learns from her Magic Mirror (Patrick Page) that Snow White is officially the fairest of them all, the royal figure decides to officially have her stepdaughter killed. However, the young princess manages to escape into the forest and befriend seven dwarfs. She soon reunites with Jonathan and begins to find her purpose, hoping to free the kingdom.
Zegler makes for a fine Snow White and the role allows her to flex her singing chops. Her take on “Whistle While You Work” is a lot of fun to watch. Early on, Snow White’s interactions with Jonathan are entertaining and the two characters have some fun back and forth as they bicker, eventually finding common ground and affection for each other. In fact, a few off-handed comments from various human characters are amusing. The film tries to make Snow White more active in efforts to save her people, as well as take effective digs at royalty via the Jonathan character. There are a lot of visual effects on display, and the lead’s interactions with animals play well. While the deer, squirrels, birds and others don’t speak, they are adorably expressive and generate smiles.
But as mentioned, there are just as many issues on display. The dwarfs are, well, jarring on the eyes. These characters are entirely CGI-generated and are far from seamless. Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman) gets the largest role, and has been animated in a way that makes him resemble a young Alfred E. Newman (from the pages of Mad Magazine). It’s a strange and distracting choice. And when the seven are together onscreen without Snow White, the movie looks like a video game. It takes an awfully long time to get used to the characters, and while that does eventually occur, it comes too late in the proceedings.
As for the music, the original songs from 1937 are iconic, but the new additions are mostly misses. The “Princess Problems” number is catchy and offers something new, but most of the other songs don’t stand out and are forgettable. Frankly, the recently written tunes have a very different sound from the 88-year-old original numbers and don’t mesh very well. A bigger effort should have been made to make their styles complementary.
And sadly, while her actions are certainly horrible and Gadot looks the part, the Evil Queen character fails to come across as threatening. Viewers should be always concerned for the safety of the protagonist while in the presence of the diabolical villain, but that sense of tension and intimidation never materializes from her. The climax also feels like it was reworked a few times and fails to excite.
Most kids probably won’t mind these problems. It’s certainly a lavishly-produced effort that should keep their attention. But any adults in the audience will find this Snow White to be flawed. Too much is haphazardly thrown together in this specific concoction, and thus doesn’t congeal enough to make it a new classic.