'Snow White and the Huntsman' Movie Review (2012)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The film that I've been waiting for, for as long as I can remember :) I finally watched it last night for it's premiere night at SM Mega Mall thanks to Solar Entertainment/Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Body Shop :)
My praises to this film. Astonishingly beautiful and breathtaking in its brutal imagery, "Snow White & the Huntsman" is thrilling and frightening in equal measure, at the same time there were moments like narration that can bore you but still look forward to watch it till the end.
Rupert Sanders' revisionist take on the classic Brothers Grimm fable, the first feature from the respected British commercial director, flip over expectations of traditional gender roles while simultaneously embracing what a fairy tale should be. It's dark and dangerous, vicious and violent (totally perfect role for Charlize Theron, bravo! I may appear bias but yes, I love her that much). Yes, there are dwarves and adorable, furry woodland creatures but more often, death is a constant threat. Spoiler! I felt sad when one of the dwarfs died while trying to save Snow white :(
The performances — notably from Kristen Stewart as the iconic title character — don't always live up to the film's visionary promise. First, there's the problem of casting anyone who's supposed to be fairer than Charlize Theron as the evil queen. But beyond Stewart's distractingly inconsistent British accent (it is really obvious, sorry Kristen Stewart fans), she simply lacks the presence to serve as a convincing warrior princess. She's too slight, her Snow White seems too reserved and insecure as she leads her minions into battle, and she still relies on all those Bella Swan tics that define her performances in the "Twilight" movies: the sulking and sighing, the skittish side glances, there were moments in the movie wherein I felt confused, is this really Snow white or Bella? but quite the same, maybe they really have a lot of similarities.
Now, despite having been locked up for several years after her father was murdered, seems to have her wits about her and when summoned by the queen's creepy brother with cute hairstyle bangs and all (Sam Spruell) she manages to escape, finds a random white horse just chilling on the beach (cool huh?) and rides off into the dark forest. Here she's overcome by the wickedness of the forest seeing visions of bugs, dead animals, tree demons and what not (I hate this part, really gruesome). She collapses and, well, this is your introduction to Snow white's weakness.
Meanwhile, the queen has now asked for the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), whom we first meet as he's fighting some guy over some money owed. Who is the guy he owes? Who cares, he's of no importance and the Huntsman is soon assigned the task of finding Snow and bringing her back to the queen so she can cut out her heart and live forever and you know the rest. Long story short, the Huntsman is double-crossed, ends up helping Snow and the story plays on from there. I'm still imagining him as Thor all throughout the movie though, minus the hammer but just the same He plays the role well, with his masculine physique, sexy British accent and everything.
The dwarfs, like most of this film, are an exercise in excellent effects (makeup and digital), but it's nothing we haven't seen before in The Lord of the Rings trilogy where John Rhys-Davies was made to look smaller. Here it's the likes of Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Eddie Marsan, Nick Frost, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris and Brian Gleeson. Admittedly there is a mild entertainment factor with these guys, I find myself really enjoying their parts. (Bring back The Lord of the Rings!)
Charlize Theron is amazingly in character in this film. Charlize Theron gave an amazingly dramatic performance as the Queen. She is very versatile and while she can play sweet roles, or an action packed one, she can do both! I am now looking forward to more movies of her. She is without, one of the best Hollywood actress up to date.
Now, I enjoyed this film a lot more than I thought I would, it reminded me a lot of Lord of The Rings, from the grand music to the mountain scenery, and it does feature a few spectacular fight scenes. Visually, this is an impressive film. To sum up, a good re-telling of a classic. However, it does make you wonder how Snow White, who's been trapped in a tower for the entirety of her adolescence, knows how to ride a horse and wield a sword like some bad-ass in "Braveheart.":-) Watch the movie and know what I'm talking about :) But I fully recommend watching this film :) One of the best films this year and worth waiting. Bravo! :)
"Snow White & the Huntsman," a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality. Running time: 125 minutes. Three stars out of four.
watch the trailer here:
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