Culture

Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman is a darker and more badass portrayal than other recent takes (Mirror Mirror) on this Brothers Grimm fairytale.

Charlize Theron is brilliant in the role of sexy Queen Ravenna. She swans around in amazing gowns constructed of bird skulls and feathers, while nourishing herself on hearts. When her golden ringwraith-like mirror informs her that in fact she is not the fairest of them all, she decides she must have Snow White’s heart to ensure her supremacy and immortality.

As Snow White, Kristen Stewart does not have much dialogue. This actually works in her favour, allowing her to flaunt her infamous lack of obvious emotion. Snow White’s life isn’t exactly the cheeriest, especially given that she spends most of the film doing her best to keep her heart to herself. There really isn’t much time to engage in merry discussions or explore happier facial expressions. At the beginning of the film she is shocked when the Huntsman describes how to stab someone in the heart, withdrawing only after catching a glimmer of their soul in their eyes. However, by the end, she is exercising this skill very well indeed.

There ends up being a bit of a love triangle involving Snow White, the Huntsman, and Snow White’s childhood friend-cum-knight, William. It is refreshing, however, that this part of the story is not really indulged, as realistically they have enough shit to deal with without getting all lovey-dovey.

Visually this film is pretty rad, the very much alive dark forest in particular. The story’s development, however, is quite rushed, and as a result the characters are somewhat undeveloped. But hell, witnessing the Queen crawling out of a pool of dead ravens and seeing Snow White getting amongst the action was good enough for me!

3/5 Stars