Review of Mirror Mirror (2012) by Nate W — 15 Jan 2013

With fairy tale revisionism dominating studio slates recently - either because audiences are really clamouring for it or because it's cheaper than paying licensing fees for anything written in the last hundred years - 2012 ended up yielding not one, but two new takes on the girl with skin as white as snow and hair as black as night.

"Mirror Mirror" is the incarnation that tries to preserve the lightheartedness we often associate with fairy tales. Lily Collins plays the raven-haired beauty who joins up with a septet of pint-sized bandits after her vampish diva of a step mother (Julia Roberts) had ordered her be taken to the woods and slain. From thence on, they both compete for the love of a dashing but comically inept prince (Armie Hammer).

With the idiosyncratic Tarsem Singh at the helm, this alteration of the fable is as blissfully dopey as the dwarf of the same name from the classic Disney version. And much like that adorably mute dwarf, the film seems to beg us for our love. Be it in the forced comedic beats or the overkill stylistic affectations for which Tarsem has made a name for himself, it all seems so terribly put on.

Not that there aren't some hits among the misses. The delirious sets and costumes certainly catch the eye with their avian motifs and popping colours. And the clever casting of Roberts and Hammer affords some decent chuckles here and there, but they're quickly forgotten amidst the gags that fall flat.