Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

The previews of this one made this look almost like it was going to be a horror movie. In fact, there was a horror version of Snow White that was done once, if memory serves correctly, in 1997. It was God-awful, and I was really hoping against this version following suit.

But this was not a horror version. Perhaps considerably darker than the more Disney style version of Snow White that came out earlier in the year (“Mirror, Mirror”, which I also reviewed), but this one does not pretend to be overly frightening or any such thing.

This one does not feel as innocent as “Mirror, Mirror” did, and it was definitely darker than that. Charlize Theron was amazing as Snow White, and when she is portrayed as “the fairest one of all”, she truly does look beautiful, sexy, and perfect in every way– which she usually does anyway. Her aging looks convincing, as does her portrayal of the queen’s wickedness, driven by her vanity and insecurities.

For that matter, one thing that made this a bit more unique than other Snow Whites (the standard, Disney animated one from decades ago, or the horror one of the nineties (called Snow White: A Tale of Terror”), or “Mirror, Mirror”, was that Snow White has two suitors here. She has the prince, who was only a child when the evil queen took over with the army, and forced to abandon Snow White, and it also has the Huntsman, played by Chris Hemsworth, he of recent Thor fame.

The Huntsman was played quite capably here, and it seemed that Hemsworth must have lost some weight in order to play this role, because he does not look nearly as bulked up as he did in his role as Thor, either in last year’s movie of the same name, or in this year’s Avengers. He does a decent job here as the Huntsman, as well, and is as believable as the role could get – although his role in particular reminded me a little too much of Viggo Mortenson’s Aragon in Lord of the Rings. They just seemed like very similar characters in similar kinds of roles – or maybe that’s just me. Yet, that’s hardly a knock on Hemsworth’s acting, which is quite strong.

The adult Snow White is played by, and she is pretty good in the role, as well. She plays a different Snow White than any of the other versions of this story that I have ever seen – quite liberally borrowing from Joan of Arc – particularly towards the battle scenes at the end.

All in all, a decent movie, although probably not something that I would necessarily recommend rushing out to go see in the movies. This one can probably wait until it comes out on DVD/Blue Ray, although that said, some of the scenery is quite stunning and beautiful, and best appreciated in the theaters, if that is what you prefer to do. It’s a good movie, so you will not likely kick yourself for having dished out the money. But be forewarned, it is a good movie that will keep you entertained, but I hardly think it qualifies for the status as a great one.