Snow White’s mother (Liberty Ross) walks through the snow, a red rose blooms amongst a blanket of white, she reaches for it, pricks her hand on a torn, three drops of blood fall to the ground below. She soon thereafter becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter, her name is Snow White. Years later, Snow’s mother dies and the King so distraught with grief is challenged into a battle, one of mysteriousness of the unknown but within the battle he finds a woman in chains, her name is Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Later in the story she is also known as the Evil Queen. I found it a bit strange when she was found in chains that her body is covered in soil but her face as clean as fresh fallen snow. But then again I guess the director could not express her beauty through that of a soiled face! Soon though thereafter Ravenna becomes Queen as she married the King but not long after takes a knife to his heart and along with her brother Finn (Sam Spruell) they overtake the castle, locking the child Snow White in the north tower and causing the entire kingdom to crumble and die.
Years pass and the Evil Queen maintains her beauty by sucking the youth out of young girls but Snow White (Kristen Stewart) has matured and still lives alone in the tower until one day when the Queen’s mirror, same premise as the original but with a slightly newer special effects twist, tells her the fairest of them all now is Snow White. Now that the young girl is of age and if the Queen were to take her heart the Queen would have immortality. Snow White escapes thanks in part to two feathered friends and a white stallion, ending up lost and on the run in the dark forest, a forest that feeds off ones weaknesses, filled with bats, snakes and many eerie creatures. Since the Queen has no powers in the dark forest she hires a Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to seek Snow White and bring her back to the castle. Finally Hemsworth shows some range and character unlike he did in his recent horror film. I wish I could say the same for Stewart since once again she proves to be one dimensional. If Snow White were truly meant to be stone cold and unemotional than Stewart would have pulled off the role but sad to say she was the only real downfall to the story! I actually got to see her crack a smile and was thrilled to see it if only for a second.
When the Huntsman meets up with Snow White, not knowing who she really was, he ends up taking sides with her and rather than killing her he protects her. Word gets out to the Duke’s (Vincent Regan) son William (Sam Claflin) that Snow White is alive and he sets off with a plan to find her. William and Snow White played together as children and always held the greatest of bonds. Although when William finds Snow White along with her Huntsman will her bond for William be as strong as her newly discovered feelings for the man that has recently been protecting her? It is not until Snow White and the Huntsman meet up with the dwarfs, Beith (Ian McShane), Muir (Bob Hoskins), Gort (Ray Winstone), Nion (Nick Frost), Duir (Eddie Marsan), Coll (Toby Jones), Quert *Johnny Harris) and Gus (Brain Gleeson) that the story takes us into sanctuary, land of the fairies. Besides the Evil Queens wardrobes which are spectacular, this land is absolutely beautiful, maybe what Heaven would be like, filled with animals of all kinds, butterflies, birds, sunlight, trees and of course mythical fairies singing their glorious tunes. There is the magnificent moment when Snow White is blessed by a rare white creature until an arrow by the enemy strikes its target in the side causing all of havoc to let loose. If not for the deed of a valiant dwarf than an arrow would have meant the end of Snow White and the demise of the hope that was left alive by a kingdom. Snow White holds no hatred for the Queen but rather that of sorrow.
The apple scene like that of the original is still the focus of the attention in the end but it has been delivered in a more feasible likeness than that of an old lady. As Snow White takes a bite she is sent off into a spell, one of continuous sleep that is until she receives a kiss, causing her rebirth and the vision to take down the Evil Queen from her reign. The battle begins, fire balls, arrows, many people die yet through it all the ultimate battle is yet to be between Snow White and the Evil Queen. Three drops of blood, a heartfelt fight to the end and the people scream hail to the Queen, all this leading up to a possible sequel.
A dark yet delightful story of Snow White, the director and writers all do a nice job with the film, score, costumes, especially that of which Theron wore, all settled into a beautiful yet mysterious landscape. Theron at times might have seen a bit overacted but overall she is spectacular. Hemsworth, who I am starting to like more and more as an actor has come alive in this film showing not only his physical strength but also well beyond his type casted characters,. Claflin was nicely cast as well but I could really think of a few other young actresses other than Stewart that could have played Snow White with more range, emotion, feeling and overall expressions other than a flat line from beginning to end. Don’t let Stewart stop you from seeing this film though. Even though she fails to deliver emotionally for the most part, everything else in the film tends to hit the mark. Written with two and half paws out of four, would have been three if not for Stewart, I’m Jon Patch.
