Snow White & The Huntsman: "Lips Red As Blood. Hair Black As Night. Bring Me Your Heart My Dear, Dear Snow White"

Director: Rupert Sanders
Writer:    Evan Daugherty
               John Lee Hancock
               Hossein Amini 
Starring: Kristen Stewart
               Chris Hemsworth
               Charlize Theron
               Sam Claflin
               Sam Spruell
               Ian McShane
               Bob Hoskins
               Toby Jones
               Eddie Marsan
               Ray Winstone
               Nick Frost 
               Lily Cole
Rating:    ***

Release Date: Out Now   

This is the second Snow White blockbuster this year, and at first I thought this was going to outshine Mirror Mirror, but in the end it was Mirror Mirror which outshone this film. This is a much darker and gothic take on the classic fairytale, and despite Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron (who is just phenomenal) giving their best perfromances, Kristen Stewart's lack of emotional connection and acting ability as the title characterreall causes the film to fall flat.

You probably all know the story of Snow White (Stewart), but here's a quick catch-up. When the Queen (Theron) kills Snow White's father, the king, the queen makes it her duty to destroy the kingdom and Snow White's life. So when Snow White escapes the castle, the Queen will stop at nothing to have her executed. Throughout the film, there are flashbacks to a painful childhood of The Queen, but these aren't really that essential, because it is fairly obvious that she has had a dark and hard life. She is extremely suspicious of men who are so in awe of her beauty, yet she still tries to cling onto her beauty and youth using magic, because she feels it is her only true power.

Snow White has to go on a much longer journey to find her own empowerment. She is literally found face down in the mud, lost in the enchanted woods by the dashing Huntsman (Hemsworth), a grieving widower played with a vast variety of accents (which is the only negative about his performance. While it isn't as good as his work on Thor and The Avengers, it is still an entertaining show he gives, and it's 100% better than Stewart does.

The Huntsman is blackmailed  by the Queen into thinking her magic can bring his wife back to life, so with this in mind he leads her snivelling brother (Spruell) to Snow White to execute her. Of course Snow and the Huntsmand are meant to have a connection and sparks are meant to fly, leading to a tricky dilemma. Unfortunately Stewart ruins any chance of this, all because she has about as much chemistry with other actors as a badger and a dead squirrel (no idea where that came from).

The gigantic lack of sexual tension between Stewart and Hemsworth means that the film really drags and has no profound affect on the audience. Then when they throw in another man for a cheeky love triangle, the level of the film drops even further. The Prince of a nearby kingdom (Claflin), is supposed to be the previously mentioned third corner of the love triangle, but his presence barely makes and impact at all. As a result, the story feels disconnected from the film, as if many scenes have met the cutting room floor, all in order to get to the action quicker.

The dwarves who help Snow White along the way (Winston, Hoskins, Frost, McShane, Jones & Marsan) help to bring some cheer to the proceedings, but the humour is few and far between. Despite the flaws (mainly with Stewart), the visuals are truly terrific, with director Rupert Sanders making his directorial debut a memorable spectacle.

This, his first feature film filled to the brim of gorgeous, emotive imagery and spellbinding effects, including the eerie sight of Theron withering with age and springing back to youthful in mere seconds. Every shot is beautifully thought out and Sanders is able to create an atmosphere that draws you into each scene. The issue is that once you enter the scenes, the content is lacking the atmosphere set up by the visuals.

Theron gives yet another fantastic performance, I mean I have yet to see her do something awful acting-wise...admittedly some of her films are a tad iffy, but she always hits the nail right on the head. Thanks to her and some spectacular visuals the film just manages to scrape by as an enjoyable film, sure it is lacking and is soon forgotten, but it is just about enjoyable when you're in the moment. However, Kristen Stewart just proves once more that she lacks the emotion, star power and chemistry to lead a blockbuster and needs to be left to disappear with the Twilight Saga. If it wasn't for her, this could have been a completely different movie.

 
Snow White & The Huntsman - Trailer