Review of Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) by Andy S — 19 Apr 2013

I'm not sure quite how this one ended up on 'The List'; maybe I was feeling generous that day or something. Needless to say, it was added and the rules state, once added it cannot be removed except by royal decree or particularly scathing reviews. Sadly neither happened and so I have now done my duty and duly watched said movie. To be honest, it wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting; that's not to say it's good though. I'll tell you more after this very brief summary.

This is basically a re-telling of the story of Snow White; of course, with a slightly different twist to the traditional. For those that don't know it; evil queen, Revenna (Charlize Theron) kills Snow White's father (the king) and takes over the kingdom. All is darkness and Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is kept in a tower until she becomes 'of age'. At this point she becomes a treat to the queen and she sends her brother Finn (Sam Spruell) to fetch her so she can kill her. Snow White escapes into the dark forest. Revenna sends The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) after her, promising to bring back his dead wife if he returns with Snow White. He finds her but she convinces him that the queen is going to double cross him and so he goes with her through the forest pursued by Finn. Eventually they meet some dwarves (played by various famous British & Irish actors) who help them escape Finn. They find Sanctuary and it is here that it is discovered just what Snow White is and how she can put an end to Revenna's reign. I guess I had better leave it there or you'll be thinking it's a lot better than it actually is.

A film that relies very heavily on special effects and I think it's because of this that it doesn't quite work. I never see it as a good sign when there are more than two writers and there are three in this case. I generally means that the studio has had more than a passing interest in the mechanics of the storytelling (never a good sign). What you end up with (as in this case) is a film that looks very good, but usually has little, or no, substance. Yes, Charlize Theron is pretty good as the evil queen, as is Chris Hemsworth as The Huntsman; sadly the same cannot be said of Kristen Stewart. Don't get me wrong, I rate her as an actress but she just doesn't have the screen presence to carry off this role. I give her full marks for effort, but, for me at least, it didn't quite work. Over all, the film only got interesting when the dwarves turned up and that was an hour into it. I think for the sequel (yes there's a sequel in the works) they'll have to put a lot more work into telling the story and a little less into making it look good on screen.

SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED (...but only just).

My score: 5.8/10.