Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) Review

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Synopsis:

Who is the fairest of them all…

She’s the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen, and the queen is out to destroy her. But, what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman dispatched to kill her.

Review

Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho it’s off to…battle we go? I’m sure most of us, if not all, remember a few fairy tales of when we were young. When it was still trendy to have an animated feature of the story, but times have changed and full motion pictures are the new way to transpire said tales onto the big screen. I had viewed the trailer and it gave me somewhat high hopes for the film, even though I still didn’t trust the trailer. With that in mind, I wondered if this tale of fantasy would have a happy ending…Or not?

Our tale begins with an average length intro, giving us the basic understanding of where the film is going. The first thing I started to notice is that the acting was not up to par, with characters uttering out their dialogue as if they were reading it from the page. Thankfully not everyone is like this and certain characters do stand out from the norm and perform with exuberance, but it’s not enough to save the rest of the cast. What made it so unrealistic is that there was no heart felt emotion at all when words/speeches were expressed…it felt…dull, so to speak. As for the story – it is predictable however the journey you go on isn’t too bad, meeting up with different folk and creatures alike along the way.

If it’s one thing that actually kept this film above water, it would have to be the special effects and fighting scenes. They are draped throughout the film and are mostly enjoyable to watch, so if the dialogue does bore you, at least you have some action to break that. The CGI at times did feel over used and almost made the film border on unrealistic (yep, even for a fantasy). I mean I understand how each scene may differ from the next, but it did feel a little overboard and kind of took me out of the film. You may not see it this way, but for me it’s as if the director wanted to make you feel as if you were there…but came up a bit short.

The cinematography was another feature in the film that stood on its own. We traverse all over creation, with a host of different environments and surroundings. It was quite refreshing, and I for one am happy we didn’t get stuck in one forest the whole flick. From huge castles, dank sewers, dark brooding forests, all the way to sunny beaches – there are some lovely views to be had.

My main criticism for this film, as mentioned before, has to be the way particular characters perform their dialogue…it is rather cringe worthy…and what makes it worse is most of the actors are decent (albeit a certain cast member *cough*Kirsten Stewart*cough*). Some of the cast really do stand out quite nicely(Charlize Theron)…it’s just sad that everyone isn’t on the same boat; it really put a damper on things. It is quite a long film at that, being a smidgen over 2hours, so you may want to get the large popcorn. On a last note – there are some MASSIVE plot holes, which make the film look stupid, but there isn’t much you can do other than ignore them or complain.

At the end of the day, SWATH, had potential, however was poorly executed (or acted) and lacked heart. It will have an audience, a niche one at that, where viewers will really enjoy it, while others…won’t. The movie does have its merits, but the negative outweigh them unfortunately. At the moment, the picture is doing rather well at theatres, mustering a profit of $307million on a budget of $170million.

Worth the watch ONLY! If you are a big fairy-tale fan, looking for an emotionless adventure or are fans of the cast.

Trailer

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