Category Archives: Films based on Fairy Tales

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN-United States-2012

Kristen Stewart as Snow White

Chris Hemsworth as The Huntsman

Charlize Theron as Ravenna

Directed by Rupert Sanders

Screenplay by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini

Screen story by Evan Daugherty

It’s been over 24 hours since I got home from the theater from seeing “Snow White and the Huntsman” and it has taken me that long to decide whether or not I liked the film. Not being very familiar with the story of the ‘fairest of them all’, save for the Disney version, I knew that my only expectation was that the movie entertains me and it did just that. The tale is a spin on the traditional story of the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth-”Thor”, “Avengers”, “The Cabin in the Woods“) who is ordered by the evil queen to kill the raven haired beauty Snow White. Alas, ’tis not to be as he falls in love with her and stands by her side to rid her inherited kingdom of the queen’s cruel hand. Now that you have an idea of the plot, let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?

The one thing that struck me about Ravenna, the queen (Charlize Theron-”Monster”, “Young Adult”, “Prometheus”) was that her obsession for staying young was similar to the same desire of the real life Elizabeth Bathory. Bathory was obsessed with staying young and murdered hundreds of young girls; believing that their blood on her skin would revitalize her features. Charlize Theron is the best part of this somewhat uneven film and I feel that at times she approached a level of intensity that rivaled her Oscar winning turn in “Monster.”

As for Chris Hemsworth I felt that he phoned his performance in. There just seemed to be no energy coming from him and his acting seemed tired instead of inspired. Hemsworth has been one of the busiest new stars with roles in “Thor”, “The Cabin in the Woods” and the super-successful “The Avengers”; so he may indeed be wiped out.

As for the role of Snow White, Kristen Stewart would not have been my first choice for the role. It’s not that I don’t find her attractive; she’s a lovely young girl. But what she gains in beauty she lacks in emotion. In scenes that I thought should call for near-explosive bouts of rage or happiness, Stewart gives us a whimper and not a bang. Yawn.

The movie is incredibly uneven. With a screenplay co-written by three different people I wonder if they were ever on the same page at any given time.

I liked “Snow White and the Huntsman”. I just wish it had been more than the sum of its parts.

TRIVIA

Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder were considered to play Ravenna, the Evil Queen.

Johnny Depp, Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender were considered to play Eric, The Huntsman.

Lily Collins auditioned for the lead role but lost to Kristen Stewart. She was later cast in the other Snow White movie, Mirror Mirror.

½

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