The Nardio Review
Is It Worth Your Time
Yes. Snow White and the Huntsman is a nice take on the classic fairytale and for $1.67 at Redbox, definitely worth a rental.
What Should I Watch it On?
Do yourself a favor and watch it on Blu-ray. The costumes and environments are great, it deserves HD quality.
What Did You Think Without Spoiling It?
The costumes are amazing, the acting is solid and while there were a couple loose plot points, altogether it was a pretty put together story. I don’t really think Kristen Stewart is the fairest of them all, but she looks ok, and hey, her beauty is more about her heart than her looks.
Why it Works
Charlize Theron. She is amazing as the evil Queen Ravenna. She’s gorgeous first of all and she’s also an amazing actress. Throughout the movie you see that she’s just reigning in her fury and the times that it does burst, woo boy. She is definitely not a woman to be crossed. The costumes are also amazing. They look exactly like they would if a fairytale stepped into the real world. In other words, they look fanciful yet practical at the same time. Snow White pretty much wears the same outfit through almost the entire movie and it gets ripped and dirty. There’s such attention to detail to each outfit. Ravenna’s are by far the most interesting. As the story progresses her outfits change from white to black as she delves deeper into her madness and begins losing her youth. And yet, there’s an interesting backstory behind Ravenna that’s briefly explored throughout the movie. She’s not an altogether unsympathetic character and you can almost understand why she is so obsessed with her beauty and keeping power. It’s nice to see a villain that isn’t one-dimensional and/or campy (like Julia Robert’s Evil Queen in Mirror, Mirror). Chris Hemsworth also does a good job as the Huntsman starting as a drunken, miserable man and evolving into somewhat of a mentor and leader. Snow White and the Huntsman was a bit long, but even after watching it I still felt like there were plenty of avenues to explore in terms of character development and plot points. I also loved the fact that Snow White was a very capable young woman even from the beginning, a far cry from the traditional damsel in distress role.
No Like?
Honestly, there was no chemistry between the Huntsman and Snow White. There was just no development between them that made me think, “Aha. They’re in love.” I could kind of see it on the Huntsman’s side, but nothing from Snow White. There’s also the issue of Snow White herself. Now I can suspend my disbelief pretty well, but there are some parts where I felt was a little rushed, most notably the last 2/3 of the movie. I’m not really going to give it away, but suffice to say that this movie probably could have done really well as a TV series since there’s so much that could be fleshed out like the dwarves. You get to know them a little bit, but not enough to really be invested in their characters. It’s a shame really.
Overall though, Snow White and the Huntsman was definitely worth the rental and is much better than the other Snow White adaptation Mirror, Mirror.
Basic Info
- $1.67 at Redbox
- Actors: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell
- Available on Blu-Ray for $19.99
or DVD for $14.99
- Run-time: 127 minutes
- Rated – PG-13
