Snow White and the Huntsman: Review

I promised I would reveal the subject of my [hopefully] future PhD in this post, but went to see Snow White and the Huntsman (Sanders, 2012) yesterday, and thought I oughtta write a wee review, for my sake as much as anyone reading this.  SWATH – which is apparently how the cool kids refer to this film – will very likely feature in my PhD thesis, so it made sense to write down my initial thoughts anyway, and package them as a review, for the greater good. 

*SPOILERS*

I won't go too heavily into the plot; a) cos that makes for a really boring read, b) I'm starting to forget bits of it already, so probably wouldn't be able to give a very reliable synopsis and c), I kinda missed the first 10 minutes, because I was late, and because Vue obviously started the film bang on time.  My bad though; I shouldn't have stopped at Tesco on the way to stock up on contraband.  Anyway, from what I can remember, I will say this; It Was Brilliant.  I've skimmed through a few reviews since yesterday; the majority of which are pretty negative.  The gist being that the film is too big, and too beautiful, and not focused enough on plot, or the relationships between the characters.  Now, I don't get to the cinema very often at all, so when I do go, I wonder if I get a bit carried away and overawed by the whole spectacle of it.  Going to the cinema is something that I, generally, have to plan well in advance, and is reliant on fitting in with times that my enabler and my car – which also happens to be the 'family' car – are free.  Thus, I look forward to going and, sad but true; I get excited.  So maybe that excitement somewhat overshadows any film that I go to see, and I'm less critical than I should be; less able to see the flaws.

Personally, I believe SWATH was well acted, particularly by Charleze Theron (Ravenna, aka 'The Queen'), who gave an incredibly dark, and powerful performance, but also by Kristin Stewart – who'da thunk it? – as Snow White herself.  You may have noticed the slight surprised tone there; I was pretty sceptical of Stewart playing the lead, as I was really unimpressed with her, frankly, cold and passionless performance in the Twilight films.  Admittedly, I haven't read the books yet – they are on my Kindle – and, according to VW, Stewart plays Bella completely right.  If that's the case, then I will hold my hands up and admit to my epic mistake, but really, I don't see that happening... In SWATH though, Stewart is much better; much more of an actor. Hoorah.  I mean, I still don't think Stewart's a particularly brilliant actor, and she was completely overshadowed by Theron; both in terms of aesthetics and performance; at one point Ravenna is told by 'Mirror' that her powers are failing because one exists that is 'fairer' than she.  Really though?  Has the director not seen Theron?  With his eyes??!  She's stunning and, with the exception of the odd scene where she's 'ug-ed up', she is no less hot as this evil biatch.  Maybe too hot.  But then, this is only in comparison to previous adaptations of this tale, where The Queen was often portrayed as grotesque; becoming monstrous at times, and who's to say that she shouldn't be drop dead?  Course, the mirror coul be alluding to Snow's inner beauty, which would make more sense, and her goodness is indeed referred to in several moments in the film.  Snow White does seem to possess a certain 'magical' quality, and I'm pretty sure she's called a 'healer' by a dwarf at one point, but this is one of the ideas that is not really explained, or developed any further, leading to the viewer – or maybe it's just me – assuming that the mirror is talking about Snow's looks, versus Ravenna's.

Indeed, Ravenna's beauty is cited as one of her 'powers'; specifically over the male species who, apparently, have screwed her over in the past, so why the hell shouldn't she use her body to get her revenge.  Personally, I think this film gives an interesting perspective on femininity, especially when looked at from a post/Third Wave feminist angle, where women are seen to 'do it for themselves'; liberated to achieve power and respect by sheer determination, but equally not afraid or ashamed to use their looks as sites of pleasure and admiration.  SWATH also says some interesting things about aging; as Ravenna is prepared to go to any lengths to maintain her youthful looks, even sucking the life force out of pretty young girls – including, ironically, model Lily Cole – who then become withered up, grey and wrinkly shadows of their former selves.  Is Ravenna a feminist of the first wave; pissed at all the attention and privileges that this new, younger, hotter breed now have, when it was her lot that did all the hard work in the first place?  Quite possibly, thus I think Robinson's notion that Ravenna is a 'generic baddie', who becomes an 'impersonal wall of CGI special effects' is completely unfounded; the woman has depth, demonstrated further by Theron's emotionally unhinged performance.  Impersonal my arse.

Stewart displays a decent range of emotions too and, like I say, while I don't think she's the most talented actor going – by far – I did care what happened to Snow, which is a lot more than can be said about how I felt towards Bella.  I even shed a tear during the poisoned apple scene, and again in the death chamber.  Though, I can't really give Stewart any credit, as she was either dead or dying.  Maybe it was down to Sam Clafin (William) and Chris Hemsworth's ('The Huntsman') performances; both crying over Snow White's cold 'dead' body.  Maybe.  Like I said, SWATH has been criticised for a lack of connection between the characters, and I agree that there is little chemistry between Huntsman and Snow; considering he openly admits to loving her – I failed to spot the development of this 'love'; Huntsman just seems to decide it one day – and nothing whatsoever from William.  So, although I was initially disappointed when the film concluded without Snow ending up with either bloke, it was probably quite right; she could do better, and I would've been more annoyed if Sanders had gone with a 'happily ever after'.  Traditional yes, and more loyal to the tale's origins, but really people, this is the 21st century; no one lives happily ever after.

In terms of the other characters, no one else gave a particularly memorable performance, except Sam Spruell as Finn, Ravenna's pervy brother.  Spruell's character was fairly unnecessary; only functioning as Ravenna's dogsbody, but he didn't really bring much to the film, other than a very bad haircut and a sexually threatening undertone that didn't develop.  Nor did his obviously psychical/physical connection to Ravenna; at one point he is seen to 'die', yet reappears not 10 minutes later, perfectly all right.  Only later, when Finn actually dies, do we see its effect on his sister, who is miles away from him, and who he begs to save him.  Ravenna, selfishly, chooses not to use up the last of her powers to help her bro, yet is visibly gutted that she can't; hence Robinson's 'impersonal' is even more baffling.

The dwarves too, seemed rather pointless, and kinda included for the sake of it.  OK, so their presence would have been missed had they not featured, and I'm sure Sanders would've been slated too but, other than providing some [limited] light-hearted respite, they didn't actually do much.  I expected more, considering they were played by such talents as Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost, Ray Winstone, and Toby Jones, but a lot of the time they were just annoying.  For instance, Bob Hoskin's dwarf is obviously blind in one eye, yet can 'see'; telling everyone that Snow White is 'the one', but nothing is made of this.  Perhaps the director is trying to give the audience some credit; not spelling everything out for them, and letting them come to their own conclusions.  However, the more likely explanation is that SWATH has a lot of ideas – not all of them good – but doesn't develop them into anything meaningful, which is where this film fails.

KT xxx