Snow White and the Huntsman

I haven’t written a movie review since I was at student and wrote reviews for @DailyInfoOxford. In a rare trip to the cinema, I went to see Snow White and the Huntsman last week. It bothered me so much that I thought I’d write something up. So, anyway, my take on the film was… basically… Huh?

Visually, the film in stunning. The special effects are wonderful. Kristen Stewart (the pallid girl from Twilight) does a good job of being a pallid princess. Charlize Theron is AMAZING  – scary, evil, power hungry, beautiful,  what more could you ask for in a wicked queen? Her sidekick/brother is suitably creepy too. The men are hunky. The fairies are cute. The Dwarves are gruff and ribald. All good. The problem is the story.

First of all, they changed the story of Snow White a bit. Fair enough. I’m happy to take it as a new twist on an old tale.

William, Snow White’s childhood friend, is guilt ridden for abandoning her as a child. When he finds out that she’s still alive he sets out to find her. When the wicked queen tricks Snow White into eating the apple and tells her that love is her undoing, it is William she uses as bait. For the first part of the film he is, apparently, the romantic hero.

The huntsman is your traditional gruff bloke who softens to the heroine. He’s about twice her age and still grieving his dead wife. Here we have another type of romantic hero.

So which one is the one she’s supposed to fall in love with? Clearly, William loves her, but she doesn’t love him. So, it must be the Huntsman. It’s his kiss that brings her alive again. But he’s still in love with his wife. So… what happened there? [Oh, and she can’t smile until he’s given her a nod to say ‘well done’ – a bit like the farmer in Babe saying ‘that’ll do Pig, that’ll do’].

Then there are little things that niggle, like the village full of women and girls. The men are all away fighting. If that’s the case, where did the babies come from? And what did they do with the boy children?

Why did the troll skulk away from Snow White instead of eating her? If Sanctuary is a safe place how did the baddies get in there? How did Snow White regenerate the Queen’s victims? Did she take on some of the Queen’s powers? If she had these powers, how come she didn’t use them before to help her mates?

All in all, it’s a beautifully shot film. I wish they’d paid as much attention to tying up the storylines.