Snow White and The Huntsman

Movie Name: Snow White and The Huntsman

Year of Release: 2012

Director: Rupert Sanders

Stars: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Noah Huntley, Lily Cole

Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5

Synopsis:

Rupert Sanders' debut feature film, following a career in commercials, is the second project of the current year to tackle the Snow White fairytale (the first one was Tarsem Singh's "Mirror, Mirror"). The film follows the story of Snow White, whose father, the beloved king of a prosperous kingdom, marries a malevolent woman, who quickly kills him in order to seize the throne. Ravenna holds magic powers in her hands and wants to gain immortality. In order to vanquish all opposition, she has most of the king's supporters killed or banished, and imprisons Snow White. Once she reaches adulthood, Ravenna decides to consume her heart, in order to gain her much sought immortality. Snow White escapes to the Dark Forest, trying to elude her grim future.
Rupert Sanders clearly has a visual style, however in this film in particular, it tries to be many films simultaneously. There are influences from Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and also from Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth". The main problem with this film is that it tries too much to be many things and go in many directions without really embracing any. The screenplay simply doesn't go anywhere with any depth - the elements of fantasy aren't really embraced, nor are the more belligerent ones. The film has an uneven rhythm also - starting out quite dynamically and then leaving the main characters without much to do or say during most of the film. Another big problem in the film is Kristen Stewart, who simply doesn't have the acting ability to carry the character, who is asked to be simultaneously innocent but also iconic and charismatic. Charlize Theron ends up being the best thing about a film that definitely had a lot more promise than it finally delivers.