Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and The Huntsman is a visual treat. It has some great effects and a great overall look to the film, the plot is good and so is the acting. I liked the way they tweaked the original fairy tale to give us a full-length adventure.

Plot: We all know the story of Snow White. Her mother dies and her father remarries. The stepmother is an evil woman set on killing Snow White because Snow White is more beautiful that she is. This story takes us a bit further. It tells us where and why the evil queen gets her magic, and why she is bent on destroying Snow White. It also gives a larger role to the Huntsman; who in the original story plays a relatively small but vital part in the plot. It does also include the dwarfs we are all used to seeing in the story, but they play a different kind of role in this film than they do in the original version. This story also includes an unlikely romance and a fight for the kingdom. Snow White and the Huntman includes plenty of action and plenty of the original fairy tale. I think it is a good adaptation of the story. It is not completely true to the original but it is a nice retelling of a tale we all know so well.

The special effects are great in this movie. It reminds me a lot of the Lord of the Rings in the look and feel of the movie. It has a bit of a British feel with everyone having a bit of an accent, and it was film in the UK and Wales. It is very visually stunning. There is a lot of magic displayed in the film: everything from trolls to faires to the queen dissolving into a flock of ravens. It was all very well done and nothing looked cheesy to me. I also liked the sound track on this film. I liked the instrumentals. The soundtrack also includes a song by Florence and the Machine, and a traditional song called “Gone” that I found moving.

I loved the acting. Charlize Theron makes the best evil queen. You can see her motivations as the story unfolds. We also get to see some history of her life and see what made her the way she is. We also get to see she is not completely heartless. She does love her brother on some level. Charlize in this movie shows us not all things that are bright and beautiful are good. Chris Hemsworth is great as the Huntsman. The Huntsman is a man who is has lost his wife, which was the only thing he cared for. She made him a better man and without her he returns to the jerk that he is on his own. In Snow White, he finds someone who brings out the better man him. For the Huntsman, this is a mental as well as physical journey. Besides Chris Hemsworth is just too cute. Kristen Stewart is good as Snow White. She shows the right about of caring, spunk, innocence and willingness to get her hands dirty. She will help fight her own fight as she tries to reclaim her kingdom and escape the clutches of the evil queen. Her character lacks in some areas. I don’t know that I believed in her enough to follow Snow White anywhere must less into battle but that was more a failing of the script then acting to me. Besides I would have followed William or The Huntsman just about anywhere. They were much better characters. They should have made Snow White a more relatable character with more feeling and history. Sam Claflin plays our other hero, William. He is the son of the Duke and he grew up with Snow White. They were friends and were very young when they were parted when the evil queen takes over the castle and puts Snow White in the tower. William thought Snow White was dead. When he finds out she is alive, he rushes to her aide like any noble knight would do. I thought all the acting was well done.

The only things I didn’t like about this movie were I thought Snow White needed a stronger more coherent rally speech at the end for her troops. That part of the script was very lack luster and that really gives me doubts about what kind of queen she would be. Her character grows a lot throughout the film but she lacks depth and charisma. Secondly, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It was sort of like they didn’t know how to end it so they picked a traditional scene to end it (even though not everything was wrapped up) because they couldn’t think of anything else. Other than that, I really enjoyed the film.

Overall, this is a great film. Not as good as Avengers, but I sort of feel like my brother does in this regard, I wish Avengers had come at the end of the summer season and not at the beginning because nothing is going to be as good as Avengers. Snow White and The Huntsman is a visually stunning; darker, more interesting take on the Snow White fairy tale that we are all familiar with. I enjoyed it and if you like fairy tales or nicely done fantasy films then you should enjoy this movie too.