Review of Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) by Mossycdl — 24 Jun 2012

The movie in a nutshell is a paper thin, almost-barely-there plotline hidden under a veil of drop-dead gorgeous visuals. When the simplistic plotline is present, it is nebulous at best, and it leads the viewer to question why is this here? what is the purpose of this? and most importantly, why do I care? It's very frustrating and infuriating.

There is seriously so much random **** all over the place that while watching the film, I pictured it as a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle opened by the film crew that was only partially put together and then submitted as complete.

All the parts that should clearly be focused on aren't (what is the purpose behind the forest deer) and all the parts that shouldn't be focused on are (there is no need to show a campfire scene for like 10 minutes, much less at all).

The big WTF moment is when a romantic plotline materializes out of thin air. The acting was flat, except for Charlize Theron, whose sinister performance I believed to an extent. Now on the other side, the visuals might have been the most spectacular I have seen since Avatar, and the set design and costumes were flawless.

Is that enough to hold up a film when so much else is lacking? I'm not sure. It depends on the viewer. As for me, I was completely underwhelmed by a movie that could have and should have been more. Done right, this film could have been amazing.

Is the film bad? No, but it isn't great either. And that's a big shame because I was rooting for it.