Now, these weren't the popular fairy tales, but ones that I had never heard of before. The one I remember the most involved a young girl who always wore a ribbon around her neck. When her friend decided to untie the ribbon one day, her head fell clean off as she was decapitated at the neck. The story ended with her head rolling across the floor.
It was dark, macabre and frankly, quite scary for a child. It was everything a fairy story should be - a warning tale set in a fantasy land with a dash of the dark and scary. That, is exactly where Snow White and the Huntsman succeeds in telling a well-known fairytale very well.
The story does not need explaining really, but after her mother dies, Snow White (Kristen Stewart) and her Father, King Magnus (Noah Huntley) are left all alone. After being attacked by a mysterious army, Magnus falls in love with the beautiful Ravenna (Charlize Theron). On their wedding night, Ravenna kills Magnus and banishes Snow White to be locked up in the tallest tower (it's not really explained why she doesn't just kill her?!)
Eventually, Snow White escapes her prison into the dark woodland and Ravenna hires the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to bring her back so Ravenna can take her heart and be the fairest of them all. However, the Huntsman soon realises he is being used by Ravenna and her brother, Finn (Sam Spruell) and joins forces with Snow White to try and get the kingdom back that is rightfully hers.
While the story is well know, Snow White and the Huntsman does make several detours from the original story, and the well-known Disney version. Firstly, as the name suggests, this story is about Snow White and the Huntsman. While the seven dwarves are involved, they do not really take centre stage like they do in the Disney version, which may upset some people!
Secondly, is that this version is much darker than previous wide-released versions of Snow White. Ravenna takes other women's beauty to fuel her own by literally sucking the life from them and leaving them near death, the dark woodland is full of mysterious and deadly beasts and a settlement of women and children who have physically scared themselves so Ravenna will not take the life from them for their beauty.
Finally, parts of the film feel like a bit of a mash-up of other fairy tales and fantasy stories. The scene involving a troll felt like it was lifted directly from the fairy tale involving the three goats and the end battle where Snow White is attempting to take back her kingdom felt like an epic battle from Lord of the Rings. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just a way of keeping an old and well-known tale appear fresh and new.
Snow White and the Huntsman really shines in two main areas; the first being the gorgeous cinematography and the second being Charlize Theron.
For the cinematography, it feels like every single shot was thought about in depth all the way through the film. Two shots are tightly kept together, the depth of field is always nicely used (the background "out of focus" and the foreground "out of focus" while the actors remain "in focus") and the wide establishing shots are grand and sweeping across the landscape. It really adds to the experience of the film when you can tell that the Cinematographer (Greig Fraser) has obviously been given a chance to really work their magic.
However, Charlize Theron really steals the show in every scene that she is in. Despite her character having a slightly underdeveloped backstory, she still manages to draw the audience in with her desperation to rule and be the fairest in the land. We find out little about her childhood, but she is always desperate to rule the land and give the "pathetic land the ruler they deserve."
She tips the balance nicely between a power hungry ruler and desperation when she starts to slowly lose her beauty. When talking to the mirror (Christopher Obi), she manages to keep the balance again between humble servant to the mirror and tyrannical ruler, never letting either of them eclipse the other. Despite being in many films previously, I can't help but feel guilty that I have kind of "overlooked" Theron in the past and Snow White and the Huntsman really starts to suffer when she isn't used very much in the second act.
Despite a strong turn by Theron, the film does not come without it's flaws. The two main flaws being that the film drags slightly in the middle and Kristen Stewart's Snow White.
Like I just said, Theron's Ravenna isn't utilised much in the second act, so the threat feels lifted from the film. With no threat, there is no tension, so the film feels like it drags. Unfortunately, this comes in the film when the seven dwarves are introduced - something you would think that would be a highlight, but it's a point in the film where it feels muddled and Snow White and the Huntsman start dragging their feet on their mission (although the dwarves help them enter the kingdom for the final battle, they don't do much else and what was the point in having Snow White 'communicate' with the animals?)
Finally, I'm not a Kristen Stewart "basher" but she didn't bring anything to the role of Snow White. The writers (Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini) unfortunately kickstart her journey quite badly for her, as she leaves a new friend locked up in the castle without freeing her and then loosing her horse when she first enters the dark woodland and leaves it there to die. For all intents and purposes, we should dislike her character because she is selfish and quite heartless, but she is supposed to be the one that we are rooting for. However, Stewart's acting doesn't really do anything to counteract the script. She remains moody and full of teenage angst towards any character she encounters, weakly screams at the troll to 'communicate' with it and then delivers the most pathetically rousing "follow me into battle" speech that film has ever seen.
While Theron really know how to balance the two sides to her evil character, Stewart keeps Snow White as a two-dimensional hero who is quite boring.
So, overall, Snow White and the Huntsman is an impressive looking film, but it doesn't come without its flaws. If as much thought went into everything else as it did into the cinematography and direction, then the film could have been close to perfect.
***½ / *****
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