Snow White and the Huntsman

Unlike the corny Mirror Mirror which came out just a few months ago (typical silly stuff you’d expect from Julia Roberts), Snow White and the Huntsman brings a lot more action and a lot more of the evil to the Snow White story.  Here, the “evil queen” truly is evil.  I’ve always liked the idea of seeing dark versions of the classic fairy tales we grew up with.  There was a video game called Alice which was a horror version of Alice in Wonderland.  It looked awesome and would have made for a great movie.  Too bad Tim Burton didn’t go that route with his remake.  Usually those types of films go straight to video, but in the hands of a good director they could be very interesting.
The beginning of this film shrewdly focuses on the queen.  We get a little bit of insight as to what made her so evil.  She uses the power of seduction as a means to get what she wants.  She has no problem using her physical beauty for wrongdoing since it seems that the men in her life only focused on that anyway.  Perhaps this is why she is so obsessed with being the “fairest” of them all, though her actions certainly don’t seem to imply much fairness.  Charlize Theron is suitably cast to play her.  Kristen Stewart plays Snow White, and does a very good job stepping out of her popular Twilight element.  Chris Hemsworth, riding high off his role of Thor in The Avengers, is also a fitting choice to play the huntsman sent to capture Snow White for the queen.  He has an intimidating physical appearance to play the brute, but a likeness to him that shows he’s more than just muscles.
And yes, the seven dwarves play a substantial role as well.  They’re conspicuously absent from the trailers of the film which makes for a nice surprise when they do show up.  For some reason, they’re entirely comprised of British actors who are of regular height.  The power of CGI puts their faces onto the bodies of actual dwarves.  I suppose maybe it was hard to find seven dwarves who can act as well as these accomplished actors.  Whatever the reason though, it works.  The scenery is great too; the movie veers from some very dark and bleak settings to others of peace and serenity.  While it’s obvious that the story isn’t exactly original, the film enhances many details of the story giving the audience an entertaining look at an otherwise too-familiar tale.  It could have been trimmed down a little as we didn’t need a Snow White film over 2 hours long, but it’s worth seeing if not for the great special effects and cinematography alone.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-philadelphia/danny-porcaro