Directed by:
Rupert SandersCinematography:
Greig FraserComposer:
James Newton HowardCast:
Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Sam Spruell, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan (more)VOD (2)
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In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Charlize Theron) out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power. (official distributor synopsis)
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A mirror with no taste (Kristen more beautiful than Charlize; how could the screenwriters think that somebody would believe such nonsense?), visually well done, solid tempo, a lot of action, wasted dwarfs (such a cast and then they just get one proper scene), a couple of necrophilic kisses, one lesbian kiss and no kiss out of true love… And that is maybe the biggest (and not by far the only) mistake; you can feel the lack of feeling here and that was, is and always will be an crucial problem in a fairytale. Despite all its likability, it’s simply cold and that’s a shame, because otherwise for this Snow White – a successor of the fantasy genre so popular and wide-spread mainly in the 80’s, I would have had only words of praise.
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(Though I think there isn’t much room for SPOILERS in this case, you should rather see the film before reading this review.) Neither a fairy nor a dragon. This modern rendering of the archetypal story epically spans the territory of Game of Thrones (the would-be harsh rural setting, the incestuous relationship between siblings), The Lord of the Rings (numerous “wandering” money shots), Disney movies (the fairy forest), Besson’s Joan of Arc (including an inappropriate spiritual dimension), and video-game fantasy (spectacular, bloodless vanquishing of enemies, and partly Snow White’s resuscitation, which is of course present in all versions). Other than the somewhat incomprehensible feminist subtext, the film’s modernity does not lie in reinterpreting a familiar story or putting it in a different context. Rather, the screenwriters merely stretched a simple story into a feature-length epic film, so there’s nothing left for us to do but successively tick off familiar situations. Our immediate recognition of the source material and firm knowledge of how everything will turn out in the end naturally draws our attention away from the content to the various treats for the eye (most of the scenes with the queen) and the ear (the dwarves imported from England). Unfortunately, the fairy-tale black-and-white distribution of power is not in any way relativised and if you want to cheer on Charlize Theron’s emancipatory struggle against the patriarchal order instead of the anaemic princess, the film will do nothing at all to support you in this. ___ The queen’s paranoid defence of her hard-won position, accompanied by her need to be the fairest of them all, could have been used beautifully to express a timeless commentary on gender inequality, to which the traditional (and the film’s chosen) ending conversely contributes. It’s worth noting that whereas the docile Snow White comes to understand “her” position without authoritative guidance, but surrounded by macho men, the more aggressive queen was, judging from the fleeting hints of her disdain for the male sex, guided by the upbringing she had from her mother and obediently accompanied only by her effeminate brother. Snow White’s climactic act of defiance follows a series of hardships culminating in her clinical death, when she is wearing asexual armour serving to deflect both arrows and the male gaze (thus creating the opposing figures of Snow White as being “butch” and the Queen as "femme", thus further confusing the already uncertain sexual orientation of the characters). Snow White paradoxically gains her exclusive position among men by becoming one herself in terms of her appearance (the exact opposite of the queen’s constant self-beautification). However, it’s possible that today’s girls (not necessarily just Twilight fan) are looking for this type of heroine, who must “suffer” in order to gain the victory that she believes she deserves due to her princess-like nature. The men faithfully follow Snow White only after her suffering reaches its peak (though anyone who has seen Martyrs might object to her lovely collapse to the ground). Unlike in melodramas, the topos of the suffering heroine here does not primarily elicit “unproductive” emotions, but rather conditions the active struggle. Paradoxically, it is the struggle for an abandoned home, where the possibilities for women’s emancipation are limited on principle. The film leaves answered the question of the extent to which Snow White’s rule will be dependent on men. There are multiple ways to interpret the symptoms of this new film version of Snow White, but I’m afraid there will be few that clearly favour women. ___ Snow White and the Huntsman is an outwardly appealing film, but with every layer that gets peeled back, it becomes less and less convincing in what it wants to tell us. 65%
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Great fragments, but a dramatic structure very blown away (hi ho, hi ho, we come to XY, we enjoy ourselves and then they attack us), no explicitly breathtaking moment, very solid craftsmanship, but affected by the effort to sell everything to all available senses at once. For me, it lacks a bit of finesse and stronger mythology, which would combine all the much dispersed influences - for example, when the dwarves sing an "Irish folk song" and Snow White prays to God, I do not know where I actually was. Some mandatory "mighty bloody battle" phrases strongly reside here (I would cut off hands for Snow White's monologue before the final battle). On the other hand, from an acting point of view, it is absolutely excellent, and if there is something that really excites beyond sensory intoxication, then it’s the well-chosen representatives of key roles (perhaps only Kristen gets a big life lesson from the predatory milf Charlize). Sanders certainly has a knack for playing with the viewer - I'm quite curious how his broadly targeted fantasy product will fare. Overall, I fluctuate between amused distance and enthusiasm - especially where this dirty girl dares to be really dirty and more daring than the polished genre competition. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm did not come despite a few good flashes. P.S. When The Witcher is filmed in Hollywood, Chris Hemsworth should be given the role of Geralt. The guy has style...
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At the beginning I was surprised at how much I was enjoying it (I wasn’t expecting anything from it), but as the minutes went by, the enthusiasm waned and I ended at around 4/10. Nice visuals and a demonic Charlize aren’t enough to carry 127 minutes with a stupid script, a wooden Snow White and an unremarkable prince.
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Exactly on the boundary between a dark fairy tale and cautious fantasy, but personally I was hoping for something a bit more elevated. The situation occasionally has to be explicitly saved by the beautiful Kristen Stewart and the warrior Chris Hemsworth, for whom the roles of unruly and vulnerable heroes will be a career destiny. James Newton Howard (and Florence+The Machine) fantastically reign in the soundtrack, fantastic creatures appear cautiously in regular doses, and passages like walks through the enchanted fairy forest can take your breath away for long minutes before anything happens, so what's the problem? For me, it's clearly with the queen. I simply didn't find Charlize Theron her evil queen convincing with her performance and portrayal of the character throughout the entire two hours, whether she was bathing in milk or menacingly threatening whomever she wanted, I was just nervously fidgeting and waiting for any kind of change. Rupert Sanders makes appealing alterations to notoriously well-known plot moments (though he doesn't fully execute that crucial and most anticipated change until the end), but in the very end, the overall impression remains too half-hearted.
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