Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

I used the Queen as the main image because I want to emphasize the fact that she was the best thing in this movie solely due to the fact that Theron is a great actress!

With all that gossip and back-lashing that was (and still is) going around Kristen Stewart and the director of the movie I’m about to review, I could not not watch the movie. I mean the actual reason why I even decided to see the movie was because of that drama that the two caused in the entire Hollywood/media world. Without that, I would have never even turned an eye towards the Snow White and the Huntsman and in the end something good did come out of this. And by good I mean, I can finally write a pretty negative review (haven’t done those in a while) on the movie that trashed the beloved fairytale of my childhood from the very beginning.

First of all, let me explain why I didn’t even want to watch the movie in the first place. Although I’m not the most committed Disney fan I still love Walt Disney’s first full length production that happened to be the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). That, and the fact that my first impression of the trailer was certainty that the original story was so much better than the new Snow White. Seeing these old and timeless stories being butchered by movie companies by making them all over again by changing the core values just seems rude and unpleasant. When I first saw the trailer of Snow White it all just didn’t suit me at all – dark, war and hopeless attempt to draw emotion out of the least expressive face in young Hollywood. But then, all the drama hit the fans and the movie got a lot more interesting in terms of action (if you know what I mean) behind the scenes!

Of course the whole director cheating on his wife with the leading actress who happens to have a boyfriend (no names mentioned although I assume everybody knows what I’m talking about, unless you have been living under a rock lately) has nothing to do with the movie itself but I just saw it as a good reason to watch this disaster. So why was it a disaster? Like I said, I don’t like the idea of changing things into the worst, which is kind of the main stream thing at the moment – new versions of old movies/stories that don’t really need the rejuvenating treatment. Especially when the fairytale is turned into a war and the innocent Snow White goes from cleaning and cooking to fighting and killing. Feminists might argue on this fact by saying she is finally portrayed as a strong female figure but I mean, violence is never something to be proud of. Plus, I felt like the original Snow had a certain kindness and warmth that made her the anti-evil as one might say. Having those soft qualities might not necessarily mean she was weak in the first place, it just shows that we as women are strong at showing love and affection. Those qualities lacked in the Snow White of 2012 not only due to writing but also because Stewart is never good at offering warm and fuzzier feelings.

Therefore it is clear that casting didn’t help the movie when it came to the leading role, I mean Kristen Stewart has so much talent that she literally can’t show emotion! There was this specific scene where she had just risen from her deep sleep and they were going to war, the Huntsman came and smiled at her because he loved her of course and instead of at least smiling at him, she just stared into an empty space with her mouth opened. No chemistry. No content. No apparent reasons to hire her to play such a role. Other casting choices were quite okay, I like Hemsworth and Theron was probably the most professional in her role making the Queen look the most realistic out of them all. Sad though that her good role happened to be in a movie that didn’t have an impact on me because I really tried hard to like her more but it fell short due to the plot.

Plot mistakes were there from the very beginning, most alarming to my need for logic was that white horse just waiting for Snow White on the beach. It made no sense, it was a complete throw off for me and I couldn’t focus on the movie without second guessing every scene after that. On a more positive note, I must admit that the visual outlook of it all did have a certain quality but this is the 21st century – having good computer effects isn’t something to brag about anymore. I did enjoy the new version of the mirror that answers to the well known question from the Queen, slimy and golden – nice concept and probably the only thing I actually preferred over the original version. Speaking of the differences between the original and the new version, the plot twist of the Huntsman being the “prince” in the end was just weird. But (!) not because of the story line, because that would have actually been interesting and personally more appealing to me since the Huntsman would be the underdog in this situation, but (!) it got misinterpreted by the emotionless Kristen Stewart!

The character of Snow White lacked any kind of chemistry with both the Prince and the Huntsman, this is something that I could have been accustomed with due to the well known love-triangle from Twilight, but since I haven’t seen the series I was not aware of the fact that two people can love each other without chemistry. Chris Hemsworth did try I guess but working with a girl who has her eye on the director and can’t express feelings (I know I’m being harsh but I’ve seen many of her movies so my opinion is based on my own experience therefore valid from my point of view) must be demanding, plus, chemistry is not an one-way street!

To wrap things up, I did not enjoy the movie for many reasons but I’m quite okay with the decision of watching it in the first place. Things I found out from Snow White and the Huntsman: I’m yet again certain that I don’t like Kristen Stewart, I kind of still like Chris Hemsworth although he isn’t the best actor and I think Charlize Theron has a knack for making bad movies a tiny bit better (being the only reason why the movie was watchable). And finally the number one knowledgeable fact the movie gave me: in case of a prison escape, there will be, most likely, a white horse waiting for you on the beach willing enough to let you ride it towards your freedom because that is just something that the horses do in modern fairy tales.