Should you borrow the movie from a friend? Yes.
Should you rent the movie? No.
Score: 3.0/5
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 127 minutes (~2 hours)
“Snow White and the Huntsman” is a 2012 dark fantasy adventure film that’s a reimagining of the Snow White fairy tale. In this version, the Huntsman plays a much larger role in defeating the Evil Queen. It stars Kristen Stewart (Snow White), Charlize Theron (Queen Ravenna), Chris Hemsworth (Eric the Huntsman), Sam Claflin (William), and Sam Spruell (Finn).
I watched “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” before I watched “Snow White and the Huntsman,” so I’m coming from a rather skewed perspective. It’s like watching the Star Wars prequels, then watching the classic Star Wars movies. The difference is perceptible, although not as bad as a decades long gap between movies. So a disclaimer here.
I much preferred the (relatively more) light-hearted tone of “The Huntsman: Winter’s War.” Of course, it’s not fair to make such a comparison since if I watched this film first, I might have been upset with the less dark tone in its sequel. Nevertheless, it’s not too bad a retelling of the classic fairytale, just that its darkness can come across as very artificial at times.
Highlights
The Huntsman makes a good reluctant hero
I like the idea of the grumpy Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), even though we’ve already got a whole host of grumpy guys in the form of the Dwarves. Nevertheless, he makes a good foil to the (also) grumpy Snow White. But what makes his grumpiness different is that it’s rooted in true reluctance, rather than a matter of not having things your way for once. It’s something that he loses in the sequel.
Establishes proper motivation as far as possible
At the very least, the film makes the effort to show how all the characters came to be, and to establish the basis for their actions. Not all fairy tale adaptations make the effort to tell a logical story, so it’s good to see that despite the dark stylisation, it still pays attention to the script and story.
Letdowns
Finn is a clown
A more cheesy henchman does not exist. If Finn hunched a bit more, you could call him Igor and have him fetch brains for Queen Ravenna. He scowls and whines in the most stereotypical ways, and there’s little variety or creativity to his acting. It’s like he’s just there to ham it up, which would might still work if not for the fact that everything else is so dark.
Ravenna’s powers are inconsistent
Isn’t she depicted as an almighty sorceress at the beginning? I mean, she takes over an an entire kingdom through trickery. Yet because of the way the tale unfolds, she’s suddenly saddled with weaknesses and her powers get nerfed. She summoned an entire evil army of shadow at the beginning. Couldn’t she have used similarly powerful magic later on?
Colour correction is in overdrive
When a cheerful forest of fairies is subjected to the dark, washed-out look, you know they’re overdoing it. It makes the darkness feel like random interjections rather than a good treatment, ironically because they didn’t know when they should not have used it.
“Snow White and the Huntsman” is a decent fairytale adaptation, but be warned that you need to have a taste for darker films if you’re to appreciate this one.
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