Snow White and The Huntsman

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Snow White and The Huntsman.

Directed by Rupert Sanders.

Written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock & Hossein Amini.

Screen Story by Evan Daugherty

Review #160

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality.

Runtime: 127 min

Cast

Kristen Stewart ... Snow White

Chris Hemsworth ... The Huntsman

Charlize Theron ... Ravenna

Sam Claflin ... William

Sam Spruell ... Finn

Ian McShane ... Beith

Bob Hoskins ... Muir

Ray Winstone ... Gort

Nick Frost ... Nion

Eddie Marsan ... Duir

Toby Jones ... Coll

Johnny Harris ... Quert

Brian Gleeson ... Gus

The Brother's Grimm are quite possibly the greatest pair of writers when it comes to fantasy. They are responsible for some classic stories that in turn have been made into films. Those films have become timeless. They're even more so after Hollywood decided to re-develop these tales. If they're attempt was to rekindle our fond memories of these wonderful stories or revisit their Disney counterparts, they succeeded.

Because their recent films have in a word....SUCKED!!!! 

Snow White and The Huntsman is so far the best of the lot.

That's not a compliment.

Plot


In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen. 

There are so many things wrong with this one that it's pointless to list them all. So I'll break them down into the three biggest issues.

1) Originality is not always a good thing.

Like it's predecessors, Red Riding Hood and Mirror Mirror. Snow White and The Huntsman tries to break apart from the root story and invent a new motive for the characters. While trying to maintain certain aspects of the story that people will remember with when they were kids.

That is not just a risky move. It's a beyond STUPID one. Why are you trying to change something that doesn't need it. These fairy tales have always been popular. There's no reason to adjust bits and pieces just to make your film brand new. The problem I saw here with this movie and the others before it was the filmmakers relentless need to "revitalize" these stories. According to these people. The only way to do that is tweak the story to give it a fresh appeal. Or worse turn the whole story upside down.

Here's the best example I can give that explains SWATH's failed attempt to be original. The motive of Queen Ravenna is nothing like the character in Disney's Snow White. In fact the perception of Ravenna and your feelings for her change midway through. You can identify with why she's so angry all the time.

WHAT?

You're not supposed to sympathize with the villain. That's why their the villain. You're not supposed to root for them. In fact this reminded me about Darth Vader. Why in the world am I bringing up Darth Vader in this review? Allow me to explain. Up until 2005. That was the year Revenge of The Sith was released. Darth Vader was considered by me one of cinema's greatest if not the greatest villain of all time. He was so heartless and dominant that his mere mention brought chills. He was unpredictable and very very angry. Then when you find out why he is that way the whole perception of the character comes crashing down. Vader is no longer the bad ass scary guy that would force choke you if you looked at him cockeyed. In reality he's a pissed off, whiny teenager that was duped into thinking he killed his woman. George Lucas destroyed what I felt Darth Vader was like. To a lesser extent. The same thing happens here.

Just not smart. Stay with the plan stan.

2) The film was too long.

A film's run time is a very delicate balance. You have to very careful when you are in the edit suite. It's common and almost a prerequisite for directors to over shoot or make additions to the film on the fly. Sometimes an idea hits them and it gets added to the narrative. The problem is that when the film gets cut you start to realize that you just can't fit everything. So now you spend months trying to figure out what stays and what ends up on the Blu Ray's deleted scenes. Snow White and The Huntsman clearly exhibits this problem here. The film was at least 30 minutes too long. Astutely pointed out by my friend Brooke who was with me at the theater.

Well done Red.

They get so bogged down in one spot that when it was time to introduce the dwarves, they serve more as place holders than legitimate characters to the story.

Which segues nicely to the final point.

3) How can a film that's over 2 hrs long have so little character and plot development.

As expected, a great deal of time is spent telling us about Snow White's origin and her relationship with the Queen. Then it just sinks after that. The Huntsman who was arguably the best character in the film gets very little play here. Just a bit about his past life that explains his demeanor in the present story. There's a tease of a romance between him and Snow White but another man enters the picture. The film gives you no indication who she's supposed to be with.

The plot development suffers just as much.

Just like Prometheus, there were way too many holes in this story to ignore or dismiss. Instead of dealing with the gaping holes in the plot. They were replaced with fights or some kind of stunt/chase sequence. I'm not sure if it was meant as misdirection or actually part of the narrative to just break into action sequences to break up the monotony. Had these issues been addressed, this would have been a much better film.  SWATH did had some stunning visuals that rivaled anything The Lord of The Rings ever produced. Sadly they were wasted on run of the mill action scenes and fights that didn't entertain or inspire interest.

They only inspired a desire for the film to just end.

That's what's the most disappointing thing about Snow White and The Huntsman. The potential for a really good fantasy film was there. But we all know by now that potential in the film biz is just not good enough anymore. Despite the cracks I take about people going to see dumb movies. Audiences are smarter than Tinseltown gives us credit for. We may go out and see the dumbest thing out there but that's because it's our choice. We can tell when a film is total crap. Word of mouth is a very powerful weapon in the entertainment world. It has the power to create and more importantly it has the power to destroy. It would behoove the powers that be to respect that fact.

The proof is in the bank. Or lack there of....

On the 5 star scale. Snow White and The Huntsman gets 1 star. And a "Save The Loot!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up Next is Brave. Pixar's latest.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"