Directed by: Rupert Sanders
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claffin
This is a movie I saw four years ago and only thought to write a review because its prequel: The Huntsman: Winter's War has been released today. The original film received a lot of media coverage because of star Kristen Stewart's affair with the film's married director, Rupert Sanders. I don't know if that had any direct effect on the box office. I do know Snow White & The Huntsman is a dreary, gray film where the actors look cold and tired. It is an action thriller without thrills. It is a fresh take on a fairy tale that didn't need a fresh take. The title sounds ridiculous. It reminds of the scene in Shakespeare in Love in which it was revealed the original title of Romeo & Juliet was "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." There are dwarfs in this film, but give me the animated ones any day.
Snow White (Stewart) is a princess imprisoned for most of her life in a tower by her evil stepmother (Theron), who sees Snow White as a threat to her throne and her reign as the hottest woman in the land. No offense to Stewart, but Theron is much prettier and must be suffering from severe insecurity to think Stewart could possibly top her. Snow White escapes and plots revenge. The stepmother hires the drunken, washed up Huntsman (Hemsworth) to track Snow White down and return her to her imprisonment.
The Huntsman captures Snow White, but the Huntsman soon switches sides and helps Snow White in her quest for vengeance. The dwarfs get involved to assist. We are left with a long, long walk back to the castle to war with the Queen's guards and henchmen. There is so much walking the movie could be an honorary Lord of the Rings sequel. The Queen herself is capable of dark magic which includes summoning dark birds that can attack at her whim. She is so supernaturally powerful that you wonder why she needs guards or henchmen.
Snow White & The Huntsman is gloomy. I was hoping the actors had somewhere warm to go when the director yelled "Cut". And had plenty of soup, coffee, or hot chocolate on hand. The castle is one of those medieval abodes you see in movies with no furnishings and just mortar and brick. Surely, carpet had been invented by then. Why would the Queen want to live in such a depressing place and rule over such a depressing land? Other than some people in sparsely populated villages and the dwarfs, there isn't much worth ruling. It seems like a burden to her to rule this wasteland.
The actors try their mightiest to wring every bit of interest out of this enterprise possible. Stewart and Hemsworth are physically capable of handling themselves in a fight, although there is not an ounce of chemistry between them. Maybe there isn't meant to be. Theron plumbs whatever villainous depths she can to make a suitable baddie. But the film is bogged down in its own grayness. I was wishing to see a few moments of sunlight pierce through the clouds and give us temporary relief. It feels like we are assaulted with mud, dead trees, and skies that haven't allowed sunlight to penetrate in decades.
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