SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN REVIEW

  Snow White on a horror blog? Never thought she would make an appearance on my site, but stranger things have happened. I guess it’s not that big of a stretch considering the story is about an evil Queen wanting the heart of a young girl. That sounds like horror to me. So what does “Snow White and The Huntsman” have to offer considering it isn’t exactly the Disney version?

  The story starts, as Snow White (Kristen Stewart), is welcomed into this world. While great things appear destined for the young girl, things change when her mother passes away, and an evil force comes for her father, the King. The evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) doesn’t waste time spreading her evil throughout the kingdom, including locking up Snow White in the castle. The adventure begins once Snow White seizes the opportunity to escape.

  There are a few things that stand out about this movie. The first is what a great job they do with the scenery, and keeping the fairytale feel throughout the movie. It starts right off the bat, as the audience sees Snow White’s mother walking in the snow, and is soon followed by a nice shot of the King’s army racing to attack the Queen’s soldiers. The best scenery comes when Snow White enters the Dark Forest. Anything in the forest can become a creature she fears in a split second. Also, they definitely keep dark theme for most of the movie.

  The nice scenery is backed up by some good special effects, such as the aforementioned creatures in the forest. No creature stands out more than an awesome looking troll. However, as frightful as it is, that particular scene comes to a disappointing ending. One of the more surprising, but awesome effects includes a sudden appearance of some interesting looking fairies, which I won’t spoil for you.

 Besides the creatures, they do a particularly good job with some of the Queen’s transformations. There are things, such as subtle changes in her face, and a shot of her back where the audience gets to see her bones. Then there are more complicated transformations like the one involving the Queen and some ravens. Even though they give it away in the trailer, the mirror changing shape in front of the Queen is well done, and a nice twist.

  Another thing that stands out is how well they manage the talent of the three major actors in the movie. They don’t push them into doing things that they simply can’t do. Charlize puts on a fantastic performance, as expected from the most experienced actor of the three. She looks every bit the part when the Queen is supposed to show her beauty, but is also quick to bring out her evil side when needed.

  When I think of Snow White, Kristen doesn’t really come to mind, and I really wondered how she would handle this role.  She isn’t fabulous, but they help her out by keeping her lines short, and not too complicated. She isn’t forced into some of those long, boring, and dialogue heavy scenes like in the Twilight movies. The audience gets just about the right dose of her. However, I still don’t understand why they didn’t go with someone else who could better handle such an important character.

  And then there is the eye candy for the ladies, Chris Hemsworth, as the Huntsman. If he can handle the role of Thor, then this couldn’t have been too difficult for him. He has some decent fight scenes, including some with the Queen’s brother (Sam Spruell). When he isn’t busy fighting, there are some brief one on one moments with Kristen. They do a good job of sticking more with the story then getting caught up in any of the possible romantic moments that could have been created.

  For those wondering if this story is as different as they make it appear, I’m going to say it is different enough. From some of the things I have already discussed, you can see they add things like fairies, and trolls, even though they don’t have a major role in the movie. They tinker with the mirror, and create a character, the Queen’s brother, that has a continuing impact on the story. There is certainly darkness throughout most of the scenes. Still, one of the bigger differences, besides the Huntsman fighting for Snow White, is that she has an active role in determining her fate.

  While there isn’t a whole lot of blood and guts, this version of Snow White’s story is dark enough to find its way onto horror sites. They do a good job remembering that this is a fairytale so they fill the movie some with great scenery. They throw in some cool special effects that keep the audience’s attention. The audience might have expected more from the role of Snow White, but they do a good job of striking a balance between keeping Kristen on and off screen. However, it still might make you scratch your head as to why she got the role. The audience will feel familiar with the story, but there are enough minor and major differences to keep the story interesting. I’m not sure what the mirror would say about the movie, but I give it 3 pools of blood.

  HorrO