Once in a while, Hollywood decides that it wants to release two movies that are similar in plot and theme relatively close to one another...and they think this is a good idea. In 1997, we had two disaster movies revolving around volcanoes with "Dante's Peak" (with Pierce Brosnan) and "Volcano" (with Tommy Lee Jones). 1998 saw two asteroid movies with "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon". A bit more recently in 2006, we saw two magician movies with Neil Burger's "The Illusionist" and Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" (this was one time I didn't complain because both movies, for once, were extraordinary).
This is no different. Before "Snow White and the Huntsman" came out, "Mirror Mirror" was released a little over 2 months prior. While "Mirror Mirror" left a lot to be desired (and luckily was obscured by "The Hunger Games"' second weekend), "Snow White and the Huntsman", though facing two strikes against it from the get-go, was a breath of fresh air.
Instead of trying to Disney-fy it and make it soley for the kiddies, "Snow White" goes a different route, making it close to the original Grimm tale while adding its own little twists to make it truly unique. Here, on the night of her wedding to the king, the now-Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) murders the king in cold blood and brings her dark army into the kingdom to rule, not only with an iron fist, but to bring the kingdom into a literal dark period where it's always a bitter winter and no wildlife can be sustained. To maintain that she is "the fairest in the land", she locks the king's only daughter Snow White in the castle's tower, and tells her subjects that the girl is dead.
At least a decade goes by. The queens powers to keep her from aging are starting to wane. Obsessed with eternal beauty, Queen Ravenna literally sucks the life out of any young woman who she deems pretty enough to sustain her visage. However, once Snow White (now played by "Twilight"'s Kristen Stewart) becomes "of-age", she is deemed "more fair" (which is a bit of a stretch) and she is deemed the reason Ravenna's powers are waning due to her pure and chaste heart (...okay, I'll buy that). The "magic mirror" tells the queen that, to gain immortality, she must have Snow White's heart. When her brother Finn (Sam Spruell) retrieves her from the tower, Snow White escapes and flees the kingdom and into the Dark Forest. Desperate to have Snow White return, Ravenna hires The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, "The Avengers", "Thor"). Reluctantly, The Huntsman ventures to find Snow White, only to discover that things are not quite what they seem, and The Huntsman soon realizes he's in over his head as Snow White begins to realize her true destiny.
Where "Mirror Mirror" opted to use actual "little people" to play the dwarves, "Snow White" uses the same technology that "Lord of the Rings" used to make the actors appear small. Here, the dwarves are Muir (Bob Hoskins), Coll (Toby Jones, "Captain America: The First Avenger", "The Hunger Games"), Beith (Ian McShane), Quert (Johnny Harris), Duir (Eddie Marsan), Gort (Ray Winstone), Nion (Nick Frost, "Shawn of the Dead"), and Gus (Brian Gleeson).
At first it was difficult to leave by biases at the door, seeing that I've never cared for Charlize Theron's work to any great extent, and, well, "Twilight" just sucks. For the last four years, audiences have been flocking to see Kristen Stewart not act in that franchise, and it's hard for me to see her in anything else without making cracks at her expense. But, as a critic, I know I have to leave these things behind and see the movie for what it is. And this movie does not disappoint at all.
Director Rupert Sanders makes his debut here from a script written by Evan Daughtery (also his debut), John Lee Hancock ("The Blind Side"), and Hossein Amini ("Drive", 2002's "The Four Feathers"). Sanders makes an outstanding first outing, showing that he is capable behind a camera with the excellent choreographed battles and stirring images, and the script is amazing, adding more depth to the original tale, something that "Mirror Mirror" had the chance to do, but opted to be more glitzy and bubblegum instead.
The true surprise of "Snow White" is Kristen Stewart herself. Her performance here is reminiscent of pre-"Twilight" films such as "Panic Room" or "The Messengers" where she was allowed to actually give a performance rather than simply phoning it in. True, it's still a stretch calling Stewart "the fairest in the land", but she still pulls off the role beautifully, and the "rally the troops" speech she gives towards the end is quite moving indeed. Chris Hemsworth, as always, is brilliant. Like his performance in "Thor", Hemsworth adds depth and dimension to his character by simply immersing himself in it. Not once do you think about him as Thor (a feat not quite achieved with Stewart's performance, but Hemsworth also hasn't played the same character in four mediocre movies either), and he steals the show every time.
In terms of the cast, the weakest link is Charlize Theron. Playing dark and plotting isn't that difficult (ask Eva Green in "Dark Shadows". There were only two emotions Theron exuded in the entire 2+ hours of the film: creepy and intimidating. And it was always easy to tell when she wanted to be intimidating because she would scream her bloody head off every time. The problem is that she screamed too much, often to the point I'd find myself laughing because it just seemed silly after a while. Though the film shifted my opinion about Stewart, it solidified my opinion on Theron.
There were parts of "Snow White and the Huntsman" that I found to be challenging as well. During Snow White's exodus sequence, after running through back alleys, sewers, and eventually swimming in the ocean, she comes to land and finds a white horse just conveniently sitting there, waiting for her. Really? I know it's based on fairy tale, and, seeing that all the fairies and trolls and the like make an appearance at one point or another, this is an odd thing to bitch about, I know. And it's not the only thing that I had a problem with either. But, overall, the movie was quite a visual treat and one of the few movies of this ilk to actually exceed my expectations.
If you're looking for a romantic movie, this is NOT it. A bold move on the writers' part was to remove the "true love" aspect of the film, and, quite frankly, thank God. It would have made too many comparisons to "Twilight", and the filmmakers already had an uphill battle with cynical moviegoers like me who almost passed on this film because of Stewart simply being in the film to begin with. Instead, they allow the characters to become intertwined through destiny and respect. It's not about Snow White finding a prince and "happily ever after" ("Mirror Mirror", we're looking at you). It's about something much more than that.
FINAL VERDICT: "Snow White and the Huntsman" is the fairy tale all grown up. A stirring script and stunning visuals make this film well worth the price of admission, and more than worthy to be part of Univeral's 100 Year Anniversary celebration. Sure, there are moments where you might want to make a crack at "Twilight" while watching it, but don't let it ruin the movie for you. Because this film is pretty special.
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