It’s hard to recollect a movie that has received more controversy and hot blooded hatred than Disney’s remake of Snow White. This movie practically encapsulates how far the company has gone down hill – from reshuffling the original to meet modern standards, only to face backlash and immediately U-turn, on top of its over abundance of cgi and using in demand yet disliked actors. However, Snow White, in spite of everything, has enough in it to make it one of the better live action remakes…
Far from great, this movie benefits from its revisionist approach because, and I don’t care what certain groups say, the original is dated and ancient. A very important place in Disney history but not something generations have cherished since. I actually found myself appreciating what they did to actually reimagine the story rather than just copy it shot for shot like The Lion King. These are the movies Disney needs to remake more!
I also appreciate how Hollywood does its musicals these days. Snow White’s sets and costumes look like a high budget West End but shot like a movie, and the camera angles allow for the scenery to be embraced. I literally watched Mamma Mia in the same day and clearly the 2000s and early 2010s didn’t know how to do musicals. Nowadays, we not only have well filmed sequences but we have people who can actually sing, beautifully at that.
Which leads me to Rachael Zegler. It’s a crying shame about the controversies that surround her these days because Zegler is brilliant as Snow White! She’s sweet, has the voice of angel, projects far more personality than Emma Watson ever did with Belle, and is believable as an eventual heroine who takes charge. It’s not as forced as other Live Action remakes, you do see her character’s progression and the uphill battle.
Andrew Burnap proves charismatic as a more Flynn Rider version of the Prince trope and he has good chemistry with Zegler. As for the dwarves, it took a while to get use to the cgi figures Disney opted for, but eventually they won me over. They have less stand out moments from the original but still are loveable and have the personalities correctly aligned.
The songs are pretty catchy – not the most memorable but they had me humming a lot. High Ho and Whistle While You Work were adapted very well. Basically, the first half is well paced and established its own identity decently whilst still, amazingly, respecting the original.
The second half, however, makes it clear that another movie was planned but mostly scrapped. That footage we received of dwarf alternatives that was torn to shreds miraculously still makes its way into the Final Cut, with the so-called bandits dipping in and out awkwardly, sharing the room with their obvious cgi replacements. It’s especially uncomfortable as one of the bandits is a dwarf actor.
Many aspects of the second half are frustratingly choppy. The bandits barely have any purpose with their roles being reshaped – four of them are mute. Then the iconic apple sequence is so redundant that it could’ve been completely removed.
Gal Gadot as miscast as you’d expect as the evil queen one too many awkward line deliveries. Far more actress could have made this role more interesting and fun.
Overall, I’m relieved to say that Snow White is NOT the poison apple we’d dreaded it would be. I enjoyed it far more than Mufasa. It’s just very forgettable and will certainly not do enough to sway opinions and make back profits for Disney.
