When Alice In Wonderland made over 1 Billion dollars worldwide at the box office in 2010, nobody took its success as a sign of good marketing, 3-D love after Avatar, or Johnny Depp’s star power (power that has been questioned post-Dark Shadows). The main thing, in fact, that was carried away from the movie was that people love dark versions of classic fairy tales. An odd take, giving thatAlice In Wonderland isn’t even technically a fairy tale (it’s an English book by Lewis Carrol that’s not even very old, having been written in 1865). Nonetheless, Hollywood went forward with twisted, teenage friendly takes on Beauty and The Beast and Little Red Riding Hood in 2011. Now 2013 brings forth takes on Hansel and Gretel (naturally, it’s a Kill Bill-level violent adventure), Jack and The Beanstalk and The Wizard of Oz. This year, we are treated with two versions of the same tale: Snow White. While the earlier version, Mirror, Mirror, was more family friendly, the subject of this review, Snow White and The Huntsman, is more gritty and violent. But is it truly the fairest one of them all?
Ravenna (the re-imagined Evil Queen in this version is portrayed by Charlize Theron) has powers that grant her immortality and magic, so long as she steals the years and youth from other people so she can rule forever. That is until Snow White (Kristen Stewart) comes to her attention. The daughter of a king she had previously killed, she thought Snow to be useless until it is she realizes that Snow White is the only pure enough person to kill her. Once Snow realizes how powerful she truly is, she escapes to the Dark Forest where Ravenna’s powers are useless. In order to capture her, Ravenna hires the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth of Thor fame) to hunt her down. Little does she know that the two will strike a deal to take back the kingdom…and destroy the Evil Queen once and for all.
Why get Kristen Stewart when there are plenty of talented actresses out there? Is it to grab the Twilight crowd? Is it to appear hip? Whatever the reason, Kristen does okay in this role. Unlike her other Twilight stars, she hasn’t done terrible rom-coms and actions flicks (just the mention of Abduction gives me the shivers) but has done dramas like Welcome To the Rileys and The Runaways that likely test her acting abilities. Here, she’s not given that opportunity but does alright on her own. Chris Hemsworth, who actually showed some chops in Thor and The Avengers, fares better, but has a Scottish accent that wavers in and out the entire film, dampening his performance. Charlize Theron is the best of the cast, hamming it up appropriately as the queen whose powers and insecurities take up her whole life.
The atmosphere of the movie is fine, evoking Game of Thrones and Lord of The Rings more than Twilight. I liked the look of a “Sanctuary” that houses many critters, including a tortoise covered in moss and pixies. It’s a nice juxtaposition to the dark and rundown kingdom the queen rules. The dwarfs kind of have that aesthetic as well…they are humorous and well played (kudos to Alex Frost from Shaun of The Dead for playing one of them) but they’re also violent and few are even a dab sadistic. A nice little change from the classic versions of these characters.
The script plods along, with there being no real motivations for these characters’ actions. The script says they go to a village, so by gosh they do! This type of writing also reflects on Snow White…she’s dull and frankly the last person I would imagine being a leader. Add to that bad dialogue and this is one screenplay that is pretty much the pits. Thankfully, Charlize Theron, beautiful visuals and some imaginative dwarfs save what could have (and probably should’ve) been a summer dud.
