Snow White returns to the big screen with a mixture of real-life action and CGI. But will this new take lift our hearts, or sink into the wishing well to be sadly forgotten?
Once upon a time, a long time ago, actually… 213 years ago to be precise, the Brothers Grimm published a story of love, loss, loathing, friendship and hope of a jealous stepmother and her hatred of her more beautiful seven-year-old stepdaughter. With her fairest skin as white as snow and hair of natural ebony. An extremely dark tale however with torture and jealousy at its very core, through to the hope of a saviour’s kiss from the prince, arriving at the last possible moment in the original sometimes horrifying tale.
Fast forward over a century and Walt Disney with the rights to this now adorable classic story makes some well-defined polished changes with his clever writers. Now giving the once nameless dwarfs individuality, a singular although almost deadly visit from the witch as opposed to three, and an introduction to the prince as the innocent love interest earlier on, it left us with a film that has lived with joy in our beating hearts for many years hence. Animated in glorious Technicolor – in a cinematic world of black and white – “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” hand drawn animation gave us colour two years before the other masterpiece at the time of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ with its also timeless songs which have been adored for decades by many millions around the globe.
The history of the tale is important to understand where we are in this new 2025 reimagining. Directed by Mark Webb of the successful ‘Amazing Spider-man’ trilogy and co-written by Erin Cressida Wilson (The Girl on the Train), and the brains behind the Barbie phenomenon, Greta Gerwig, (although now distancing herself from this film). We are now within the new era of stories with strong female leads who have over time, and for the better, turned the often masculine Hollywood industry into something far more balanced.
Snow White is a new take on the original tale that has music both old and new at its heart including the obvious classics and with some mostly forgettable new additions. “Waiting on a Wish”, written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land), is the outstanding new track from the beginning where we are introduced to the slightly older put upon teenage Snow White played by Rachel Zegler. Winner of the Golden Globe for best actress in “West Side Story” with a voice and performance that radiates above the other cast members jumps off the screen in the best possible way creating much needed lift.
Also starring Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) as the Evil Queen, – and by the way, one of the highest paid actresses currently in the industry – this portrayal has been much maligned as being more hammy than horror, and this is where the new film sadly begins to fall apart. Alongside the once powerful evil matriarch which has been flattened so to speak, our prince has now become a curious Robin Hood type figure alongside a mixed cast of merry people further muddying the now troubled murky waters of a jumbled story. The biggest failure here though is recreating the Disney Dwarfs without a real cast of actors, instead opting for somewhat uncanny CGI. Further diluting the tale which starts with a Hollywood bang, that unfortunately slowly falls apart as the three acts pass by into something quite forgettable.
With a reported budget of around $240m, partly because of many rewrites taking time as they do and with the additional time required, it is unlikely that the film will make the box office Disney originally hoped it would. However, word of mouth plays a huge part as it does with all cinematic releases that go on to succeed. Unfortunately, the overall feeling one is left with as you leave the film is of a sense of betrayal, as the filmmaker’s have released something which sadly is quite poor. A little harsh but for the most part unfortunately true.
There are some beautiful moments here such as the aforementioned opening first track, and also the marvellous colour as Snow races for her life into the dark forest away from harm from the royal guard. For balance, the recent similar musical “Wicked”, an almighty Oscar winning smash with incidentally another two strong female leads, has been amongst my favourite cinema visits in the last year with also the film on glorious 4K as a treasured birthday gift in my possession.
Having said all this, ‘Snow White’ has mostly been made for the child in age and at heart and is best enjoyed by those who have kept themselves away from the often maligning media. As talented as Rachel Zegler is – and she is – Snow White will haunt her for many years to come as studio execs may find a reason to look to alternative actresses for future works. Snow White is still a colourful film that is best enjoyed as a family, though it will sadly fade from our hearts as quickly as the poisoned red apple will dissolve back into the ground. To be forgotten, waiting for true love’s kiss to bring life back into what was before an adored classic.
Author: Piers, Maidstone Store.
