Snow White and the Huntsman Reviews

Ever since the first age of cinema, the 1812 fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm has been adapted on numerous occasions into feature films and television programmes - most notably the 1937 animated Disney classic Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Yet, there has not been any major hit of the story since then. However, 2012 became a rather lucky year for the Brothers Grimm as their work on this story was put to the big screen not only once but twice resulting in two separate feature films. Snow White And The Huntsman became the second of the two to be released. Initial expectations for this film were rather mixed but amazingly, it became a surprisingly intense, fun, exciting and at times terrifying ride as it solidly renovates the Brothers Grimm’s dark tale.


To be able to pull off a successful film based on a classic tale is a very difficult task and upon learning that director Rupert Sanders was making his directorial debut, there were speculations of how close it was going to be to the Disney animated version, let alone the original tale. In many ways, it is told as a traditional 1800s fairy tale but at the same time, it had certain aspects where it was just like a brand new fantasy film that wasn’t previously connected to any other works. Although Sanders’ work was impressive and has been a solid debut for him, entering the world of Snow White, the Evil Queen and the Huntsman had its rather familiar environmental and characteristic concepts to C.S. Lewis’s Narnia, Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland and even Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. Nevertheless, it was more or less a welcomed return to a vintage fictional, countryside world.


Kristen Stewart bridged a gap directly between her roles as Bella Swan in the final Twilight films as she portrayed the Princess with “skin white as snow”. Quite frankly, casting Stewart as Snow White, the protagonist of the story, is a rather typical move as due to Stewart’s current Hollywood star status and portraying what became a Disney Princess character, it’ll help the film gain more financial success. With this in mind, Stewart is not the perfect match for Snow White in terms of beauty and heroism but to a huge surprise, she pulls off a more than satisfactory performance. Following his breakthrough performances as Thor in the film of the same time and The Avengers, Chris Hemsworth takes the role of Eric the Huntsman. His performance was another typical ‘macho’ and heroic one that we have seen before. In fact, in certain ways, the Huntsman has his similar characteristics to the heroic outlaw Robin Hood. Following Snow White And The Huntsman and his performances as Thor, Hemsworth has expressed what he is truly remarkable at achieving.


Finding a suitable actress to portray a dangerously disturbed, deranged but young and beautiful woman does not come round the corner very often. South African actress Charlize Theron had already won an Academy Award for Best Actress in her role as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster back in 2003. Further to that, Theron still had a tremendous amount of beauty, which was an essential requirement as part of the Evil Queen. For the role in this film, Charlize Theron was perhaps the best choice purely because she was not only beautiful and rather terrifying to watch, but she also established an emotional connection between the Evil Queen and the audience. There was a background storyline about her young life, which revolutionized that she has feelings as a human being, as well as an evil witch and Queen. As told in the story, the dwarfs made appearances too, but this time there were eight of them instead of seven. As opposed to real-life dwarves, the roles were portrayed by Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan and Brian Gleeson respectively.


Overall, Snow White And The Huntsman is perhaps one of the most surprising films that you could see in 2012 and became a film that perhaps does not come close to the Disney version, but it is still a solid effort all-round. It is filled with lots of charm, dazzling effects, exciting action and most of all – the terror and scares within. Nevertheless, this is really not for the kids to see and is a dark telling of the story that is aimed preferably towards teenagers and adults.

"I shall give this wretched world the queen it deserves."

2012 has featured the release of two live-action adaptations of the Grimms fairytale, with Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror and Rupert Sanders' Snow White and the Huntsman. I rather hated the hell out of Mirror Mirror due to it's ridiculously cheesy approach to the fairytale. Snow White and the Huntsman is the complete opposite to that film - this is a dark, gritty, and even violent re-imagining of the beloved tale. The verdict is in - Snow White and the Huntsman is far more superior film to Mirror Mirror. This the first feature film from commercials director Rupert Sanders, and he's handled this big budget blockbuster with technique and skill. The most notable change to the original story is the character of the Huntsman - he's given a bigger part in this film. There are many things one could nitpick about, particularly with the screenplay, but Snow White and the Huntsman manages to grab your interest from the get-go, and it is without a doubt, the fairer Snow White adaptation of the year.



Snow White, the young princess of Tabor, is imprisoned in a tower after her father's kingdom is overthrown by the evil Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Years later, Snow White (played by Kristen Stewart) escapes her prison just as Ravenna, who is now queen, learns from her Magic Mirror that Snow White's heart is the source for her immortality. Evading capture from the queen's guards, Snow White escapes into the dark forest, a place where no-one comes out alive. The Evil Queen enlists the help of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to capture Snow White. However, the Huntsman ends up siding with the fugitive when he comes face to face with her, and the two set out to overthrow Ravenna. Meanwhile, Snow White's childhood friend William (Sam Claflin) sets out to find her after he learns that she is alive.



Written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini, the screenplay is riveting for the most of the film. Like I said earlier, this is a hugely different re-imagining of Snow White than we're used to. The writers really embraced the grit, and threw in all kinds of dark and spooky elements. The queen in particular is beautifully characterised villain. You get the sense that this evil queen was actually a human being at one point, and now she's a complete monster. This is achieved through actual establishment of the character - we see flashbacks from her past, and the relationship with her evil brother (played by Sam Spruell) is also established well. Snow White also has been written well, though this is a totally different Snow White to the one we're used to. In the film, she's a 'chosen one' type character - throughout the land, many believe she is destined to overthrow the queen. What's terrific is you actually get a feel that Snow White and Ravenna were complete opposites - they were true rivals who had to fight at the end no matter what. Last but not least, the Huntsman is a terrific love interest - it's a nice twist on the classic tale.

This brings me to the flaws of the screenplay - the love triangle. The inclusion of the character William was a truly unnecessary decision. He got in the way of the developing the relationship between Snow White and the Huntsman - to be honest, their relationship could've been stretched out a lot more. There also doesn't seem to be any purpose for the love triangle. There's no conflict between William and the Huntsman, and William himself isn't the most interesting of characters - he's actually the most insipid of the film. Another qualm I had with Snow White and the Huntsman is the pacing, particularly around the middle act of the film as Snow White and her companion are evading capture from the Queen's men. It felt tedious around this part in the film - nothing seems to happen, and the plot doesn't go anywhere. The queen is also off-screen for far too long. Still, the story kicks right in once we see a surprisingly effective twist on the poisonous apple and the spell-breaking kiss. The introduction of the dwarves also livens up the mood of the film, as they're pretty much the only source of humour. These characters are simply hilarious, and again, the writers added a nice gritty attitude to the characterisation of them - they're not the most pleasant of dwarves.



I think it's a no-brainer when I say this - Charlize Theron stole the show. She was hot as always, but she really brought the villainy to this role. Theron has so much range, and I'm still waiting for the day where she delivers a bad performance. Like all good actors, Theron works with the script to make sure her character has depth and is convincing, and through her, we can see the humanity Ravenna once had. This is the first time in a while where she's played a truly evil villain, but she pulls it off with so much skill. If there's one thing that can carry a film, it's a good villain, and she definitely delivered on her part. While all the other actors are almost always upstaged by Theron, they still bring solid performances to the film. Kristen Stewart gets a lot of hate for her role in the Twilight films. I personally am a fan, and while she struggles with her accent from time to time, Stewart delivered the vulnerability and fierceness of her character beautifully. Chris Hemsworth is also good value as the Huntsman, showing that he can deliver great performances outside the Marvel films. His Scottish accent was also perfect, and suited the gritty tone of his character. The dwarves were all sensational, played by well-known British performers such as Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Toby Jones, and Nick Frost. All deliver a solid performances of their mischievous characters. Sam Claflin did get on my nerves from time to time as William - he just doesn't seem to be trying. Maybe it was his character, but so far, nothing he's done has been that amazing. Remember Pirates 4?)



On the technical side, Snow White and the Huntsman is a masterpiece. This film is absolutely riveting when it comes to the visuals. With superb creature design, the visual effects used to create all the mythical creatures is amazing. There are trolls, trees that turn snakes, and at one point in the film, the characters stumble upon a beautiful garden called Sanctuary - the visuals alone in this location make it a joyous watch. With luscious cinematography by Greig Fraser, this is definitely one of the most visually stunning films of the year so far. Sanders also uses his visual effects creatively when it comes to the Evil Queen. She transforms into a flock of ravens, engulfs herself in flames, bathes herself in a white liquid - all the effects done with the Queen always have a great combination of spooky and exhilarating. What's also mind-blowing is the make-up done on Theron - throughout the film, the Queen actually grows older, and it's a really cool effect. The production design is top rate, and again, all is shot beautifully by Fraser. Sanders shows that he has an eye for beauty - Snow White and the Huntsman always manages to impress on this aspect. What really surprised me is how much action there is in the film. There are a lot of action sequences here, and although some are quite short, the spectacle of them is magnificent. Sanders stages some really exciting set-pieces, particularly the climatic raid on the evil Queen's castle, and all this is assisted by James Newton Howard's epic score. The costumes by Colleen Atwood are worthy of an Oscar, with Snow White's armour she wears at the climax being huge favourite of mine - Stewart looks like a total badass when she dons it.



Snow White and the Huntsman is a must-see in my opinion, and it's a promising debut from Sanders. With a standout performance from Charlize Theron, who may prove to be the best villain of year, and a beautiful visual style, this re-imagining delivers, and you're better off seeing this than Mirror Mirror. What I find extremely strange is a sequel is already being planned - what could they continue on with? Something tells me the love triangle will have more of a place in the sequel, but if it ends up like Twilight... oh dear.

This is the a review that I can say is one that I expected. The cast and the story is great. the actors made it the roles work. The actions, locations, and special effects were great.

That is not what this review is about. It was suggested to me not to take my 6 year old daughter to this film. It was to violent, bloody, and gore. We got through the whole movie and I left saying this could have been PG and there was quick action but nothing that would scare her. I think people have to think before they do this but if the child can be at a movie and the content is not bad then it should be ok.

The story actually helped my daughter understand the idea of the violent acts and the action needed.