My review of Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman is a 2012 film produced by Tim Burton and directed by Rupert Sanders. It stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Spruell, and Sam Claflin. It was released on June 1 in the United States. It is rated PG-13 with a run-time of 127 minutes.

The film begins with narration from The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth). He tells the story of a queen who gave birth to Snow White. Years later, the princess has befriended William, the son of Duke Hammond (Vincent Regan). When the queen died, the grief-stricken married Ravenna (Charlize Theron), a would-be prisoner of war. That quickly led to an overthrow of his kingdom, and Snow White's imprisonment. The life is literally sucked out of the kingdom. In later years, we see the now-adult Snow White (Kristen Stewart) escape certain death. Ravenna learns that Snow White is the only one who can bring about her downfall and the one who can give her the immortality she craves. For now, she has to settle for draining the youth of the many young girls in the kingdom to keep herself from aging. With Snow White's heart, that will no longer be necessary. Ravenna strikes a bargain with the Huntsman to retrieve her, but he ultimately find himself joining Snow White's cause. They are later joined by eight dwarves (none of which are played by actual Little People) and an adult William (Sam Claflin). Our heroes venture through Dark Forests and Faery Wonderlands as they travel to the safe(r) haven provided by Duke Hammond. As the film progresses, we see Snow White gradually come to terms with her destiny and what she must do. It all culminates in the classic Final Fantasy Fight -- the time-honored tradition of storming of the castle.

While there is a burgeoning love triangle here, it rightly isn't the focus of the film. There's a war to be fought, you know. Soaring speeches to be made, horses to be ridden, swashes to be buckled, etc.

As far as "acting" is concerned, there is little heavy lifting required of the actors apart from Charlize Theron and the actors that portrayed the dwarves. And considering this film's approach, it works just fine. Kristen Stewart is convincing in her role as the one chosen to breathe new life into the kingdom. I was originally of the idea that it made no sense to cast Stewart as Snow White opposite Theron, because of course Theron is the more attractive one. But I later realized that was the point. Of course Ravenna is outwardly more beautiful than Snow White. She's supposed to be. Ravenna's beauty is artificial, it sucks the life from all around her. As opposed to Snow White's "dark" beauty that has the inverse effect. In short, I'm totally fine with Kristen Stewart in this movie.

This was a far better film than I expected. It reminded me of the magical feeling I used to have as a kid when I watched 80s fantasy movies such as Willow. The crisp, clear, and sweeping HD cinematography and imaginative special effects certainly helped. On a side note, I grow more and more appreciative of the emergence of High Definition in today's movies. The fantasy film genre hasn't fared well since Return of the King left theaters bock in 2004, but this is a decent revival of the genre. Now, I am NOT saying this film is as good as Willow or ROTK, though it is fine in its own right.