Snow White and the Huntsman: A Fairy Tale Gone Awry

Movie: Snow White and the Huntsman

Director: Rupert Sanders

Rating: **

What’s with Kristen Stewart that everybody longs either for her blood or heart, I wondered as I walked out after watching ‘SWATH’. And what’s with the dwarfs? Aren’t they supposed to be funny or provide some kind of comic relief? Unfortunately, nothing noteworthy happened in the film however what did happen was, all those who walked in with heads up high, smile on their face, came out as though it was the saddest day of their lives

Based on the Disney delight ‘Snow White and Seven Dwarfs’, SWATH is the story of a young princess Snow White, held captive by an evil queen Ravenna, who believes she’s the fairest of all until she’s told she isn’t. Unable to tolerate the insult to her vanity, she demands the heart of Snow White, which will stop her from aging ever. Upon learning about the evil queen’s treacherous intentions, Snow White escapes from captivity and runs in to the dark forest. The Huntsman is summoned and given the responsibility of bringing back Snow White. However, in the process of finding the princess, Huntsman comes to learn about everything and eventually turns his back against the evil queen and supports the princess in reclaiming her long lost kingdom.

The difference between all fairy tale movies and Snow White and the Huntsman is that never did any of these films attempt to deviate from their goal – to entertain one and all, except the film in discussion. Rupert tries hard to give SWATH a dark makeover however fails miserably in the process. A fairy tale should be ideally heartwarming, filled with cute, loveable characters but ‘Snow White’ turns out to be the exact opposite.

The connection between the characters is shallow and you will hardly feel empathetic for any of them. Almost everybody in the film is wasted barring the super talented Charlize Theron. Charlize managed to give one the creeps with her performance as a vicious queen. Kristen seems to be still clinging on to her ‘Twilight’ image which definitely didn’t work in her favour. Chris was totally wasted and his role is not one of his bests that he’d proud of or even his fans.

What does work in the film’s favour is Greig Fraser’s cinematography, as he iridescently showcases the dark castle of the evil queen, the lustrous fairy tale land of the dwarfs like never before. Charlize and Greig’s cinematography salvages the film from going down the drain and gives hope to the viewers.

In one line; ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ is a fairy tale gone awry.