Snow White and the Huntsman

Once upon a time, director Rupert Sanders and his band of merry writers began their quest to create an updated version of the family classic Snow White. It was a noble quest; they ditched helpful woodland animals and bobbed Disney princess' and opted for a darkness that seeps into the soul.

A modern fairytale was spawned, Snow White and the Huntsman, injecting the story with a darker tone that has long been missed. Yes - Sanders breathes life into the chirpy, witless, post-card-ready classic. He treats us to the "Once upon a time" voice over but quickly sets-up a jarring and haunting movie.


Much like its predecessors in the Snow White branch the tale follows a Princess whose wicked step mother Queen wants her guts-for-garters. But soon with the help of several dwarves and heart throbs a-plenty the Princess ascends to take on mommy dearest.


The cast is star-studded; from Kristen Stewert's tentative "Snow" to Charlize Theron's sensually terrifying performance as Queen Ravenna. In the contest for who's fairer - here, Theron comes out on top. Her presence is magnetic - she embodies the role of evil queen and still manages to look beautiful when ageing by the CGI-minute. While Kristen is left with little to say quite literally as the directors clearly cut her lines so as not to divert from the foolery of the American-English accent.


And not unlike the Twilight franchise Snow White and the Huntsman offers up two male leads: Huntsman Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and childhood sweetheart, William (Sam Clafin). Both play admirable roles but are quickly over-shadowed at the emergence of 7 very small but lovable characters - the dwarves. Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Ian McShane, Eddie Marsan, Nick Frost and Ray Winstone took on the roles of vertically challenged forest dwellers who come to our heroine's aid. And while they were engaging and amusing, I found myself trying so hard to work out each actor that I was completely taken out of what little story there was at their point of arrival.


However, this is a bold rethinking of a familiar old-story which is alleviated by striking design elements and arresting visuals. The astonishing hallows of the eidolic forest with its cloaked ghouls and phantom mists stand in stark contrast to the faerie sanctuary. While the fairy grotto looked like a scene straight out of Avatar, with Aslan the Lion-king showing up mid-film in the shape of a CGI-stag, Sanders proved his below par visuals in Alice in Wonderland could be rectified in this startling screenplay.

Snow White and the Huntsman proves you don't need a magic mirror to tell which summer release is the fairest of them all. 

-ZB