Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman

Directed by: Rupert Sanders Screenplay by: Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini Starring: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin

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.

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I was prepared to give this film a chance just to give credit to Charlize Theron, who I think is a wonderful actress, and to the imagery that the trailers presented. I was not really sold on having a Snow White as a warrior since most of Snow White portrayals had her as a delicate little flower unable to harm even a fly. With those curiosities as a lure, I went to the movies.

1. Ravenna     1.1 Although they did show Ravenna's childhood and the fairest spell that was not even her doing, they did not show how Ravenna went on the evil path.      1.2 Her mother did say "Avenge us!" and she and her brother were abducted but it's not clear how they fared at the hands of their abductors - whether they were maltreated or not.       1.3 She may have extracted her vengeance on the ones responsible already but what made her want to conquer others? Trauma?      1.4 Or was she just evil for evil's sake? Greed for power and beauty may be what drove her but what was the root of it all aside from a random shout of "Avenge us!"
2. Snow White      2.1 Props to the kid who portrayed little Snow White.      2.2 I knew what to expect from the actress who portrayed grown-up Snow White.            2.2.1 Although I had to give it to her, she shows more emotion here.    2.3 How did she acquire combat skills? It was not said she was trained as a child. She was only described as having spirit and defiance.      2.4 Not a developed character. 
3. The Huntsman      3.1 Ahem, it's Chris Hemsworth.      3.2 He had to work with the material he's given.             3.2.1 Same goes to Charlize, however, I think Charlize overacted a bit.      3.3 He's the Huntsman and the huntsman in Snow White was just a small character. Here, he has a bigger role.            3.3.1 He's one of the titular characters after all.       3.4 At first, I thought he was just an ally but further into the movie, hints are dive-bombing everywhere to put him as a potential love interest for Snow White.        3.5 Weird.
4. Prince William      4.1 Again... Ahem, it's Sam Claflin      4.2 Why are you a Prince when your father is a Duke?             4.2.1 Okay, maybe your father is from another kingdom and that as practiced in the UK, princes have dukedoms and your father is still a prince and his father is still alive.               4.2.2 But your father looks ancient and that means he must be the ruler now.            4.2.3 Wait. The film did not exactly say that you're THE prince. It just stated that your father's a duke.               4.2.4 I'm confused.      4.3 You're just an accessory. You don't have a defined role other than merely being the "Prince".               4.3.1 You have serious competition with the Huntsman. It's Chris Hemsworth after all.
5. The film in general          5.1 I got a Mononoke Hime throwback.            5.1.1 It's all I could do not to shout in the theater when the Forest Spirit look-alike hart with the tiered antlers showed up.               5.1.2 I almost imagined that someone would lop off its head.               5.1.3 I did not even get why they had to be in that place? Fine, she's the chosen one but how?           5.1.4 It's a given that she would defeat the queen but her being a chosen one and have a bit of unearthly about her (I kept laughing at the scene with the troll) but why?          5.2 I get what the film intended to do, to show, to... whatever.                5.2.1 All I got was choppy, disjointed, storytelling.               5.2.2 It's rating from me was saved from being one apple by the acting chops of some and the cinematography of everything. Truly breathtaking cinematography especially the Sanctuary.               5.2.2 It still felt like there was something missing. A lot missing.                        5.2.2.1 The plot.