Who knew Snow White had battle armor? Well she needs it to lead an army against the evil queen in the epic action film Snow White and the Huntsman. The story follows a princess who is held captive after an evil queen kills the king and usurps the kingdom. When Snow White escapes years later, the queen forces the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track her down. Kristen Stewart stars as the fairy tale mainstay. This time we get a bit more of the emotional trauma that would come with being held prisoner your whole life. For fans of the story’s other incarnations, don’t fear, everything from the poison apple to the seven dwarfs make an appearance.
The film is heavy on themes in order to set the desired tone, which is quite dark. There is actually more in common with Lord of the Rings than the Snow White Disney cartoon. The supernatural elements that mostly come from the queen are visually compelling. Most interestingly, there is even a suggestion that the queen suffers from some kind of mental illness, as is revealed when she speaks with the mirror. Small touches like that really build the believability and quality of a high concept film like this one.
So the big question on my mind going in to the theater was Kristen Stewart. Her performance as Snow White is much better than those in the Twilight films, but her lack of dialogue can be credited for that. The other half of the title, playing the Huntsman, Hemsworth continues his rise to action lead prominence building on his breakout role as Thor. I suppose it also must be mentioned that Charlize Theron is a completely despicable villain. In fact, her recent performances have left me to assume that she must be a terrible person in real life. I guess that’s good acting. Overall it’s a successful take at turning Snow White darker.
Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.
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