What’s a damned shame about Disney’s live-action Snow White is that it’s already been buried by mountains of bad buzz, and the conflating of meaningless controversies surrounding its superstar female leads. And trust that the only reason these meaningless stories are blown up is that we’re talking about Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, two beautiful, talented, opinionated ladies. It’s a shame because this film is actually quite good, and better than many of Disney’s overblown, sludgy retellings of their animated classics. I’ll take the light-hearted, colorful, romantic, cheery musical Snow White over Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms any day. It’s not quite fairest of them all, but hardly a poisonous apple, either.
The film is directed by Marc Webb, who will perhaps always be remembered most for his pair of Amazing Spider-Man movies for Sony. However it’s his far-superior breakthrough film (500) Days of Summer that Snow White draws from most, including a love story that’s surprisingly contemporary and playful musical numbers. Snow White begins with one, the anthemic theme “Where the Good Things Grow”, which introduces us to the titular heroine born under a snowstorm, earning her name. Complaints surrounding the casting of Zegler, a Latina whose skin won’t ever be the color of fallen snow, should be left to the ignorant incels who gave voice to them. All is right in this kingdom, where the king, queen, and young princess sing and dance with the townsfolk, who share with them loads of baked apple goods.
Everything is fine until the queen passes away, and in swoops Gadot’s Evil Queen to win the king’s heart. Her beauty is astonishing, and seems to give her magical power. But secretly the new queen is evil, and when the king vanishes she claims the throne for herself, turning the kingdom until an authoritarian nightmare. Her twisted rule bears some obvious resemblance to political events that are consuming us now. It’s unlikely that Webb and screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson planned it that way, but the parallels add an unexpected poignancy to this otherwise airy story. Snow White is forced to become a maid, the gentle people are turned into armed soldiers; the Evil Queen dominates with an iron fist, driven by jealousy and the one question her magic mirror can answer: “Who is the fairest of them all?”
The familiar beats play out with a few added wrinkles that traditionalists (and the aforementioned haters) will wrinkle their noses at, but I found to be pretty inoffensive. The vain Queen still wants The Huntsman (played by Ansu Kabia) to kill Snow White, only for him to grow a conscience and set her free. She still finds a house squirreled away deep in the forest where seven diminutive 249-year-old guys with silly descriptors dwell, before going out to mine the magical rocks in the deep mines. The movie never actually calls them “dwarves”, perhaps due to some of the upset surrounding the casting of non-little people in the role, and the old-fashioned stereotypes in the characters’ depiction. Dopey, Bashful, Grumpy, Happy, Sneezy, Sleepy, and Doc look better than expected, like cartoons brought to vibrant CGI life. They still fight like brothers, and whistle while they work. There’s one major change to one of them that should’ve had him renamed “Cheesy”, but it’s not the end of the world.
Prince Charming is a thing of the past, too. Instead, he’s replaced by a brigand, a Robin Hood-like figure named Jonathan, played by Andrew Burnap. The lack of a prince to pursue and ultimately kiss Snow White out of her deathly slumber has the most ripple effects in this reimagining. She meets him when he’s caught swiping food from the castle, and sets him free after the Evil Queen chains him outside to freeze to death. This Snow White isn’t out looking for any man to change her life. Let’s be honest, the Prince was kinda creepy in the original classic. The courtship here is more push and pull, with Jonathan trying to bring out the rebel in her, and Snow White out to prove she’s every bit as brave as her father. The problem with Jonathan isn’t his existence, it’s that Burnap and Zegler don’t have great chemistry and he’s a bit bland when next to her. It’s most obvious when they share musical numbers. Zegler is small in stature but her voice booms and Burnap…well, he does his best, I guess. It’s a bit off that for all of the changes made to be more modern, they keep the poison apple and the means of waking Snow White from her slumber. You’d think that would be the first thing to go.
Like Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Emma Stone’s Cruella, Gadot embraces the Evil Queen’s narcissism and cruel nature. It’s a flashy, stylish performance with dark, purple flowing robes, razor sharp nails, and that terrifying, towering crown. Gadot isn’t a natural singer but she has enough flair to power the villain’s one major showpiece.
Snow White goes through its share of lulls. The original runs for a crisp 83 minutes and this one stretches a full 20 minutes longer when it probably doesn’t need to. The familiar ideas are there. This is still a tale of true love, of good triumphing over evil, of kindness over cruelty. What changes are made will seem minor, but the other edge of the dagger is that there are few surprises and fewer thrills. Your enjoyment is going to depend largely on your attitude going in, so why not choose “Happy” over “Grumpy”? I mean, it’s not like you’re being forced to watch Mirror Mirror or Snow White and the Huntsman.
Disney releases Snow White in theaters on March 21st.
