Movie Review – Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
What do you get when you combine a classic fairy tale with a setting reminiscent of something out of The Lord of the Rings?
The answer is Snow White and the Huntsman, the latest addition to a growing list of 2012′s better movies.
Snow White and the Huntsman takes the classic Grimms’ fairy tale and takes it up a few notches. This is definitely not the joyous and kid-friendly animated version made by Disney back in 1937.
Snow White and the Huntsman begins with the queen pricking her finger on a thorny rose bush. Three drops of blood fall upon the pure white snow as she wishes for a daughter. The king and queen have a beautiful daughter as they wished, but about seven or eight years later the queen dies.
After the death of his wife and still stricken with grief, the king leads his knights against an evil army out in the woods. But as we see, the army is more fantasy than reality. The king notices a beautiful woman named Ravenna (played by Charlize Theorn) being kept prisoner and he frees her.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
The king falls for Ravenna and it doesn’t take long for him to marry her. As Ravenna notices in the wedding ceremony, the eyes of the people aren’t on her but rather the young Snow White standing behind her. The night of the wedding, Queen Ravenna tells the king that he’s no different than every other man, using a beautiful woman like her before essentially tossing her aside. Before he can respond, Ravenna kills him with a large dagger.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
Queen Ravenna’s dark army attacks the castle and she completes her power shift. Young Snow White is captured while trying to flee, and she’s locked in the castle’s north tower, becoming a prisoner to her evil step-mother.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
Years pass and the kingdom slowly dies. The joy that once stood in and around the castle’s stone walls has deceased, choking the kingdom of its former joy and happiness. Snow White (played by Kristen Stewart) has grown older, but as we see, her natural beauty greatly surpasses that of the queen. One day a young lady is locked in the tower, and then she’s taken before the queen. We see the queen attack the young lady and “steal” her youth and beauty, transferring it to her own body. The now aged woman is locked back into the tower and Snow White learns about her step-mother’s secret.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
One day when talking to the magic mirror, Queen Ravenna learns that her ultimate goal of never-ending youth and beauty lies in the heart of her step-daughter, Snow White. Ravenna sends her brother up to the tower to get Snow White, but Snow White attacks him and escapes. She runs and slips out of the castle through the sewer system. She then takes a pure white horse and flees from the pursuing troops into the woods.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
After hearing about how Snow White escaped into the woods, Queen Ravenna hires a huntsman (played by Chris Hemsworth) to find and bring back Snow White. The huntsman is one of the few people who have entered the evil woods and returned alive. He’s reluctant of accepting the offer, but the queen promises to bring his dead wife back to life if he returns with Snow White. The huntsman leads the queen’s brother and some men into the woods, and he quickly locates the missing girl. After learning why she’s running from the queen, the huntsman has a change of heart and attacks the queen’s troops. He and Snow White run deeper into the woods and try to escape the evil wrath of the queen.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
And that’s just the first part of Snow White and the Huntsman.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
The movie continues for another hour as Snow White and her huntsman friend eventually meet the fabled dwarfs and meet her long lost friend, William. The ending concludes with an all-out attack upon the castle and Snow White facing off with the evil queen.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – (c) Universal Pictures
So was Snow White and the Huntsman a good movie?
Yes, as a whole, this darker and more action-oriented version of Snow White was good. The middle part where they’re fleeing through the woods does tend to drag on and on and on, but the ending picks up speed and the attack on the castle is pretty good. Look for some great visuals here from the fantastic scenery to the costumes to the visual effects bringing the fantasy part of the story to life.
The crew could have chosen a better Snow White than Kristen Stewart (there’s lots of criticism of her inability to act in the Twilight movies), but she still works in the role. Chris Hemsworth kicks ass here like he did so well in Thor and The Avengers. The dwarfs are great characters in both comic relief and their combat scenes. But the best character was Queen Ravenna played by Charlize Theorn. Queen Ravenna’s own story is rather sad, but it’s her obsession with youth and beauty that drives the plot of the movie.
Personally, I’m not a fan of movies that have females in the role of action heroes (or a heroine in this case). When I first saw a preview for Snow White and the Huntsman a while ago, it looked unappealing with the few shots of Snow White going into battle. However, I was pleasantly surprised as Snow White only had a little bit of combat, and her scenes properly reflected her inexperience in combat situations. Look for the huntsman and his fellow warriors to do the brunt of the fighting, not Snow White.
Guys, feel free to join your girlfriends in this movie. The title may have “chick flick” written all over it, but it has enough darkness, evil, and fight scenes to keep you into the movie as well. That being said, this version is dark and sinister enough to keep the children at home. There were quite a few children in the movie theater with us, and many of them didn’t look happy when the movie finished. During at least one scene I heard a mom near me start crying.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – movie trailer
If you love adventure movies and/or fairy tales, then go out and see this movie. Just be warned that this is a darker telling of the classic story.
Queen Ravenna – “Do you hear that? It’s the sound of battles fought and lives lost. It once pained me to know that I am the cause of such despair. But now their cries give me strength. Beauty is my power.”
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NOTE – The screenshots were added after Snow White and the Huntsman was released on DVD.