Snow White
Review: In Disney’s newest live action remake, the House of Mouse decided to readapt their first feature length film, 1937’s ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ And it actually turned out okay. I am not quite fully on the side of people who hate live action remakes with a passion, but I do think they are completely unnecessary. That being said, if they are going to make them (they being movie studios, and hint, they are going to make them) I think this one does it the right way. The source film was nearly 90 years old (opposed to DreamWorks ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ which comes out 15 years after the animated film, or better yet, the soon to come ‘Moana’ which is coming 10 years after). Their is enough deviation from the original story so that this does feel like a new movie (that was my biggest gripe with 2019’s ‘The Lion King). And this is actually a very cute family film. Now don’t take this as a parent guide, because there are some intense & potentially scary scenes for younger kiddos, but this is the kind of movie people should be going to the theater to see with the whole family. This movie had its fair share of controversies during production, however the one that stood out the most to me was not casting real little people as the seven dwarfs. Though I think that may still have been the correct choice, I actually didn’t mind the final product. If they weren’t going to go that route, I think just making the characters fully CGI was a good call, so I will give Disney their credit here. The dwarfs looked pretty good and captured the same magic of the original designs without completely rehashing them. Whatever your thoughts are on Rachel Zegler and her casting in this role, she did a very good job with what she is given. She is an extremely talented actress & who can also belt as a singer. I’ve noticed she brings a certain theater actress quality to her roles that worked very well here. I do want to say Disney did her dirty with the hair though. That bob was not it. Especially seeing some of the hairstyles she has done on the press tour to pay homage to the film that don’t look so silly.
High: Honestly, I did appreciate the differences from the original film. Maybe that will upset some die hard fans of that film, but personally I don’t ever want just a shot for shot remake of an older film. I won’t hit on all the changes but some do include the change of the prince character to the bandit Jonathan & giving one of the dwarfs (Dopey) an actual storyline. I also thought it was the correct choice to go the route of 2023’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ and allowing the main character to actually take place in the climax. Speaking of the climax SLIGHT SPOILER did they really let the rebel Quigg, master of the crossbow deliver the climactic blow? Sure, why not.
Low: This movie no doubt had faults. The dialogue was very… eh. Personally I had a hard time staying fixated on the film during any song that didn’t feature Snow White or the Dwarfs. I think the design of the Magic Mirror was pretty lame and something a lot better could be done. Heck, even ‘Shrek’ did a better job with it back in the day. But the lowest low is Gal Gadot. Her performance was out of place and was the weakest in the film. I think she was miscast in this role and there are a slew of other actresses who could’ve taken on the part more effectively.
Rating: 6.5/10
