Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

DIRECTOR: Rupert Sanders; CAST: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin…

SUMMARY (from IMDB): Snow White is the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen. Unable to tolerate the insult to her vanity, the evil queen decides that Snow White must die. The queen sends a huntsman to kill Snow White. However the huntsman finds himself unable to murder the innocent young woman, and instead ends up training her to become a warrior capable of threatening the queen's reign.

MY OPINION:

The best way to describe this film is to say it is like Narnia meets The Lord of the Rings meets Joan of Arc meets Peter Pan, but not for children. It contains a lot of violence and some scenes require a strong stomach. Let me elaborate: I can take in a fair share of violence and horror, but when bugs and the like start crawling, I squeal, close my eyes, and hide.

The plot closely follows the traditional story. However, the details are touched-up here and there, distinguishing Snow White and the Huntsman from other adaptations of the well-known fairy-tale.

The film is visually stunning, from costumes to scenery and even the gory parts. Everything makes a strong impact. The same goes for the music, which is beautiful and touching and fits the scenes perfectly.

There is a lot of action in the film and static scenes are very few. In spite of the fast pace, which makes Snow White and the Huntsman completely absorbing, the story is easy to follow. There are a few cheesy moments, and William (Claflin) has some almost-Richard-Gere-in-First-Knight-but-not-really poses, which were both a little awkward and adorable at the same time.

The acting is mostly solid. Charlize Theron is, as I expected, brilliant. Her evil queen really personifies malice, and yet, given the reasons she is the way she is, I cannot hate her entirely but have to spare her a pinch of understanding. Kristen Stewart is slowly improving her acting, too, so I quite liked her in this film. Oh, and there is also Chris Hemsworh's accent – you can take that as good or bad, whichever you prefer. 

Overall, I enjoyed Snow White and the Huntsman very much. I was only somewhat disappointed that the film makers apparently had not had the courage to follow through with the title story arc, which would really make this film stand out from the rest of the Snow White adaptations. Hence, the ending left me with a sense of the story not being quite finished. 

SPOILER (highlight if you want to see it): I expected one of the following two options, neither of which happens. I thought the huntsman would die in the end as a price Snow White has to pay for the greater good. Although, I would prefer the other option – Snow White and the Huntsman actually being together in the end. Either way would be better then concluding with them exchanging longing looks from afar. END OF SPOILER

RECOMMENDATION: Snow White and the Huntsman is a visually attractive and captivating film. It is an interesting and fairly faithful version of the classic fairy-tale, but I would not recommend it to very young viewers due to the amount of violence it contains.