Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
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Movie Overview | Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Tagline: The Fairytale Is Over
Storyline
Plot:
Snow White and the Huntsman is a 2012 American dark fantasy film directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron. The film is a retelling of the classic fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. It follows the story of Snow White, a young princess imprisoned in a tower by her evil stepmother, Queen Ravenna. Ravenna is obsessed with maintaining her beauty and power, draining the life force from young girls to sustain her reign. When Snow White escapes the tower, Ravenna sends a huntsman to find and bring her back. However, the huntsman, grieving the loss of his wife, becomes Snow White's protector and mentor, teaching her how to fight and survive. Together with a group of rebellious dwarfs, they embark on a journey to overthrow the wicked queen and restore Snow White to her rightful place on the throne. One of the strengths of Snow White and the Huntsman is its visual style. The film is beautifully shot, with stunning landscapes, impressive special effects, and perfect gothic aesthetics that enhance the dark side of the story. The performances are also noteworthy, with Kristen Stewart bringing quiet strength and vulnerability to her role as Snow White, while Charlize Theron is captivating as the cruel and calculating Ravenna. Chris Hemsworth stands out as the huntsman, infusing the character with determination and tenderness. The supporting cast, including Ian McShane as the leader of the rebellious dwarfs, also delivers strong performances. However, the film is not without its flaws. Some scenes feel repetitive and some dialogue seems stiff and forced. Additionally, the film's attempts to deviate from the original fairy tale can feel abrupt at times. Despite these issues, Snow White and the Huntsman is a beautifully crafted film.
Other Info
Evan Daugherty (Story)
- Evan Daugherty,
- John Lee Hancock,
- Hossein Amini
- Sam Mercer,
- Joe Roth,
- Helen Hayden (Ireland surf unit)
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Japan
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User reviews
I read a few reviews to help me understand why I did not enjoy this visual feast, for a visual feast it is. From the red blood, to the white snow, to the raven black elements, to the knights in silvery shining armour racing along the beach with swords drawn, all the beauty is there … but it cannot sustain what is essentially a great story told poorly.
Synopsis: Snow White is the princess of Tabor. After his wife's death, King Magnus marries the beautiful Ravenna after rescuing her from the Dark Army, an invading force of glass soldiers. Ravenna—who is in fact a powerful sorceress and the Dark Army's master—kills Magnus on their wedding night. As Ravenna seizes control of the kingdom, Duke Hammond escapes the Castle with his son William but is unable to save Snow White. Snow White is then locked away in a tower of the castle. The kingdom declines under Ravenna's rule as she periodically drains the youth from young women to maintain a spell once cast by her mother, which allows her to keep her beauty. When Snow White comes of age, Ravenna learns from her Magic Mirror that Snow White is destined to destroy her unless Ravenna consumes the young girl's heart, which will make her immortal. Ravenna orders her brother Finn to bring her Snow White, but she escapes into the Dark Forest, where Ravenna has no power. Eric the Huntsman, a drunken widower who has survived the Dark Forest, is brought to Ravenna who orders him to lead Finn in pursuit of Snow White. In exchange, she promises to revive his deceased wife, Sarah. Duke Hammond learns that Snow White is alive and has fled into the Dark Forest, and his son William, Snow White's childhood friend, later infiltrates Finn's band as a bowman to find her. The Huntsman locates Snow White in the Dark Forest, but Finn admits that Ravenna cannot resurrect the dead. The Huntsman then helps Snow White to escape, promising to escort her to Duke Hammond's castle in exchange for a reward of gold. They meet the dwarves who just about steal the show, and thereafter it’s on to the Duke’s castle to round up an army to defeat the evil Queen.
Fairy tales are part of the dark mythological underbelly of civilisation, and many lessons and social commentaries exist today in these handed down tales. In like fashion, many books are simply repeats of or expansions upon eternal themes such as the quest/journey/coming of age etc. Anne R. Allen says: Experts don’t agree on the exact number of narrative plots, but there aren’t many. in case you think someone like James Patterson stole your plot!)
Let’s check out the reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes: While it offers an appropriately dark take on the fairy tale that inspired it, Snow White and the Huntsman is undone by uneven acting, problematic pacing, and a confused script.
The Washington Post: Michael O’Sullivan says: Too many bad apples spoil a tale. Overlong, overcrowded, overstimulating and with an over-the-top performance by Charlize Theron as the evil queen Ravenna, the movie is a virtual orchard of toxic excess, starting with the unnecessarily sprawling cast of characters. Snow White and the Huntsman feels less like a movie than a deadly cocktail of movie clichés, all of which have been thrown into a blender, set to ‘slow’ and pureed for two hours.
The San Francisco Chronicle: “…which takes everything mythic about ‘Snow White’ and pounds it out until it's flat and dead. It takes something whose truth is elusive and turns it into a movie that's obvious and trivial. The fairy tale … suffers from a problem in its rhythm. It's not that its pace is too slow, but that it's too regular, and this lack of syncopation makes it feel slow.
In my humble opinion, the problem with Snow White is that loads of bad stuff eclipsed loads of good stuff. A cleaner, simpler story, tighter pacing, consistent characterization, believable motivation, a good sub-text and backstory, and quicker links to the actually great action scenes would have transformed this film into an iconic version of a tried and tested tale of good triumphing over evil. People don’t get tired of a good story told well.