2012: The Year in Film: "Snow White and the Huntsman" Review

So I'm back. I apologize for being crappy at writing lately but I've been busy seeing Avengers not enough times, getting excited for Prometheus and the Dark Knight Rises, nerding out over Game of Thrones and generally not blogging things. In addition, the new blogger format is utter shit. I loathe it and it's generally made blogging here significantly less enjoyable. I used to write everything in word and then copy and paste it over, inserting any media, but this new system keeps screwing up the formatting. Argh. If you're one of the loyal few.. my apologies, as it's been a healthy month. At any rate, we're here today to discuss "Snow White and the Huntsman", which by virtue of the subject matter and very title, wouldn't seem to be something that myself or anyone other than 10 year old girls would have any interest in. But a funny thing happened on the way to princess-land, a dark, reimagined script got greenlit with an impressive FX budget and a star studded cast.. and I think I speak for many when I say that the first trailer made me exhale a Keanu-esque "whoa..". So I've been cautiously optimistic about this one for a while and kept a close eye on the reviews as they slowly trickled out. They've been mixed, to say the least, but Drew McWeeney and Roger Ebert (2 of the 5 or so movie critics I tend to trust) both gave it high marks, so I figured, what the hell.. worth checking out.

Kristen Stewart stars as Snow White, the princess long imprisoned in her father's castle by the evil Queen, played by Charlize Theron, who has brought darkness to the land with her evil powers. After she escapes to the dark forest, the Queen's forces recruit a huntsman with a drinking problem (Chris Hemsworth) to help them hunt her down. There is much more to Snow White than meets the eye, and the Huntsman and some other friends join her against the Queen. Fundamentally, it's the same story as the classic Grimm fairy tale, with an evil Queen with dark powers obsessed with keeping her physical beauty while a young princess threatens her reign. There are dwarves, a magic apple, a magic mirror, all that fun, classic, cornball stuff. It's just been ramped up and grown up, to include armies and soldiers and monsters and magic galore.

First, what the film does well: visually, it's stunning. This is a fleshed-out world that feels rich and magical.  Snow White and her companions encounter a variety of locales on their quest, all of which look amazing. It's like someone watched Pan's Labyrinth/Hellboy and Lord of the Rings and took away all the visual positives.. that's definitely a good thing. The castle is imposing and impressive-looking, the battle scenes are more than adequate and the film really takes pleasure in depicting nature. The magic forest that Snow White and her companions find themselves in is particularly stunning. There are some great performances here too.. Charlize Theron takes what could have been a stock villainess role and fleshes it out into something menacing but also sad. Chris Hemsworth is well on his way to becoming a legitimate actor, doing MUCH more with the Huntsman than would be expected. There are some familiar faces among the dwarves, as well.. with Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Nick Frost, Toby Jones and others having their faces rendered via CGI onto actual little people. In addition, the plot was refreshing, unique and strangely effective.

At the other side of the coin lies some uneven plotting, unconvincing performances and wooden dialogue. The film feels like it's 20 minutes too long, and sags during a long middle portion where I wasn't quite sure where we're going with all of this. In addition, Hemsworth and Theron simply act circles around Kristen Stewart.. who feels out of place, like it's not really happening to her. Her transformation happens too quickly, and she seems anachronistic in this medieval setting. Some supporting characters exist so far in the background as to hardly have personalities, and the character of "Will", the handsome Prince, seems like an utter waste of time.
Long story short, this movie is good, if not great, but well worth a watch. Hemsworth and Theron alone are worth the price of admission, and the visuals are great bordering on amazing. An all-around solid time at the movies. 7/10.