Stewart, Theron, Reign Supreme in Medieval 'Snow White' Tale

No longer the damsel in distress, Snow White becomes a warrior princess to take back what is hers.

If you’re feeling fairy tale déjà vu all of the sudden, you’re not alone. Less than three months ago, director Tarsem Singh traded his stylistic vision of mythological gods and titans for a more family friendly take on the classic Snow White tale in Mirror Mirror. And that was all fine and great for its targeting its youthful demographic, but Rupert Sanders too has his own Snow White tale to tell, one treading the same mature waters as Pan’s Labyrinth and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

Snow White and the Huntsman conveys the most consistent plot points found in any interpretation:  a princess who’s fairest in the land, a vain usurper queen challenged by the beauty of said princess and a supporting cast of seven dwarves, a conflicted huntsman and the iconic magic mirror (or in Huntsman, a faceless mirror man).  Where Huntsman zigs where other interpretations have zagged shines in its encompassing gritty and medieval vibe, in which Snow White assumes the mantle of the kingdom’s savior, a warrior princess leading her army into battle against a psychotic seductress, who has stolen everything that is rightfully hers. 

Now transforming a character that’s canonically helpless and ethereal into battle-hardened leader is by no means some easy task. Having portrayed the moping, bland Bella Swan for four Twilight films, Kristen Stewart is already a hard sell as Snow White even without the mention of donning plated armor and Braveheart battle speeches. It’s easy to discredit her based solely on one role, but as Snow White, she reaches to her non-Bella performances and tacks on the layers to grasp this emotionally damaged character that needs to rise up against a drop-dead gorgeous witch and tyrant. Stewart brings her journey to life, as Snow White evolves hand-in-hand with the inclusive paradigm. With little need to depend on co-star Chris Hemsworth’s brawn and a slew of thespian dwarves, she not only holds her own, but by the climax awards audiences with a heroine who’s more than meets the eye. 

Denying Snow White her destiny is Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron), her seductive stepmother who’s beautiful as she is psychotic. Theron is perfect as the royal villainess, playing a wide range from being unstable to vain to sexually alluring within moments of each other. Her most recent role in last year’s Young Adult teased audiences for where she could potentially go with Queen Ravenna and the expectations were more than satisfying.

The battle to reign as the supreme and most beautiful woman in the kingdom might be key at driving the narrative for Huntsman, but what audiences will take away most is Sanders’ ability to blend a conventional medieval set piece with a Guillermo Del Toro style fantasy. Ravenna’s castle is fortified with a sense of dismal hopelessness that afflicts the entire kingdom. The home of the dwarves, however, is contrary to the looming darkness, full of life and hauntingly beautiful art direction. In fact, every set has a distinctive personality that transports audiences to a real world rather than lifeless overused green screen. 

As Snow White meets the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) for the very first time in the Dark Forest, it functions not only as a realm between good and evil, but more a psychological labyrinth. Snow White and the Huntsman is visually mesmerizing from every corner of the kingdom and manages to work with its entire scope then intimately draw to the subtleties of one particular character, predominantly Stewart’s Snow White.  The other characters come and go (even Theron and Hemsworth at times) and are sometimes sacrificed the needed screen time in order to continue moving the plot along.

With its tone constantly in check, Snow White and the Huntsman does struggle at letting the narrative unfold into a sprawling epic. It might appear that the film functions as a coherent story in just over two hours. And yes it is coherent, but still lacking is the depth to build the tension without slamming plot points together in editing. Snow White and the Huntsman needs at least another 20-30 minutes to do the story justice. The climactic battle is what everything has been building up to and it’s just as rush to the finish that comes out of nowhere. Within less than five minutes, Hunstman shifts from a scene of mourning to an impromptu girl power battle speech to the battle itself. There’s no opportunity to flesh out Snow White as a leader, except for the fact that she’s entitled to become queen. The dwarves deem her as another Neo, the Pevensies or Frodo as a chosen one to end the darkness. (Anakin Skywalker was one too and we all remember what happened there.) 

The same can be said about the ending to Huntsman as well, which is a sped through conclusion with minimal thought on the climactic consequences. Little moments like this corrupt the director’s integrity by transforming what should be an epic into one cut too short. That’s not to say that the entire film has problems or gaping holes in pacing or storytelling, but there are sequences that beg to be expanded in a more definitive version. For his first chance at directing a large budget blockbuster, Rupert Sanders is in the right direction at getting the best out his actors and developing a non-traditionalist approach in telling a beloved fairy tale.

Snow White and the Huntsman ultimately transcends other recent fairy tale revisions by not only hammering home the dynamic alpha female struggle between Stewart and Theron, but more importantly fashioning a tangible battleground where fantasy and reality clash in near-epic proportions. The seriousness of the film’s events aren’t to be taken lightly even after injecting elements of fantasy, namely dwarves, trolls and enchanted armies in this medieval setting. The threats to the kingdom in Huntsman are real with real consequences rather than the weaker tyrannical contemporary seen in Mirror Mirror. Even though both films are envisioned differently, when comparing both Snow White films side by side, Sanders’ “Huntsman” undisputedly reigns supreme.

      

GRADE: A- (9/10)
This review is also available on Blu-Ray.com