Snow White – Film Review
Reviewed by Harris Dang on the 20th of March 2025
Disney presents a film by Marc Webb
Screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson
Produced by Marc Platt and Jared LeBoff
Starring Rachel Zegler, Andrew Burnap, Gal Gadot, Andrew Barth Feldman, Tituss Burgess, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, Jeremy Swift, and Andy Grotelueschen
Cinematography Mandy Walker
Edited by Mark Sanger and Sarah Broshar
Music by Jeff Morrow, Larry Morey, Frank Churchill, and Pasek and Paul
Rating: PG
Running time: 110 minutes
Release Date: the 20th of March 2025
If there is any film corporation out there printing its own money, Walt Disney Pictures is in the lead. While the corporation has made live-action adaptations of their own work before, the streak really began when Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) struck a chord with audiences. Since then, people have been flocking to these reboots in droves and helped bring in the big bucks for Disney. It makes no sense then to kill the cash cow anytime soon. With a new Lilo and Stitch on the horizon later in the year, live-action adaptations of their animated work will always be a driving force.
On the critical front, the adaptations have at best received mixed reactions. For every film that dares to stretch beyond their source material like Pete’s Dragon (directed by David Lowery), we see films that are slavishly faithful to the point of creative redundancy, such as Pinocchio (directed by Robert Zemeckis). After Disney live-action adaptations as well as films outside the corporation like Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Mirror Mirror (2012), and Blancanieves (2012), we have Disney’s Snow White, directed by Marc Webb. Being no stranger to directing fantasy blockbusters, including the Amazing Spider-Man films, as well as whimsical romantic fare like 500 Days of Summer (2009), he sounds like a good candidate to handle the classic fairytale. Similarly, with rising star Rachel Zegler in the titular role, a new iteration of Snow White is promising.
For those unfamiliar with the story, the film tells the story of its titular character, a pure, kind-hearted, and valiant young princess who is forced to live under her evil wicked stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot). The Queen is destined for greatness as predicted by the Magic Mirror as she is stated as the “fairest of them all”. But her position at the top is under threat as long as Snow White is in the picture, so the Queen hires the Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to kill her.
However, Snow White’s kindness changes his ways, and he warns her to hide in the magic forest. This leads Snow White into a cottage for the diamond miners known as the Seven Dwarves. They include Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman), Bashful (Tituss Burgess), Grumpy (Martin Klebba), Sneezy (Jason Kravits), Happy (George Salazar), Doc (Jeremy Swift), and Sleepy (Andy Grotelueschen). With the Queen’s looming reign over the kingdom, it is up to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to fight back and save the kingdom from tyranny.
Does the film transcend its trappings and become a notable piece of filmmaking that stands on its own two feet? Or does it come across as an unnecessary facsimile that bears no innovation, inspiration, or creativity whatsoever? As for the positives, Rachel Zegler proves her star quality. Regardless of how one thinks of her (rightful) opinion on the source material, all of that disappears with her notable work. Conveying strong resolve without out-of-place grit, infectious wonder without off-putting naivety, and striking humanity within startlingly noticeable CGI environments, Zegler is rock solid and almost holds the film together with her dramatic and musical chops.
It is a shame the rest of the film cannot keep up to her level. Snow White’s quality ranges from being dishwater dull to problematically executed and shockingly abysmal. On the dishwater dull front, the story’s pacing (led by editing from Mark Sanger and Sarah Broshar) is inconsistent. It fails to accentuate any escalation or graduation of the stakes or characterisations in the storytelling. The special effects are also predictably well done but the execution lends a certain digital sheen leading to a claustrophobic feel of the (limited) sets that makes it impossible to immerse yourself in the fantasy of the film.
On the problematically executed front, the creative choices in changing the source material are woefully misguided. It is admirable that the filmmakers want to update the source material to the heights of political correctness (particularly in the case of the Prince and the portrayal of the Dwarves), the choices themselves prove problematic and uninspired. The Dwarves are portrayed through CGI and motion capture. While the film is fantasy, the “cartoony” appearances of the Dwarves make it impossible to believe that they are recognisably human nor does the film make us want to believe.
The film also tries splitting the difference by having a short-statured actor (George Appleby) play an on-screen supporting role and Martin Klebba (who is also short-statured) voicing Grumpy. It feels like “one step forward, one step back” as having a short-statured actor voicing a “cartoony” dwarf feels detrimental when the other “cartoony” dwarf characters are played by actors of normal stature. Therefore, making the act of splitting the difference coming off as splitting audiences apart instead.
Speaking of splitting audiences, the new songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (best known for their work in La La Land (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017) and the live-action adaptation of Aladdin (2019) are forgettable as the staging and choreography lacks energy (which compounds on the slack pacing as well). They also feel conflicting in how topical they are in opposition to its old-fashioned fantasy tropes they are subverting.
The subversion of the tropes is mixed as they work well in support of the characterisation of Snow White and how she applies herself in her bravery and autonomy in the narrative, particularly in the third act. But it works less well when applied to the character of the Prince who is now a supposedly dashing, cynical thief named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap). He has moments of characterisation and plot points that feel like leftovers of better fantasy films like Robin Hood (2010), Ever After (1998), and The Princess Bride (1987) but without the fun and the chemistry. It does not help when the character of Jonathan says out loud that he is not the “knight in shining armour”, which patronises the audience in the process.
Finally, on the shockingly abysmal front, we have Gal Gadot. Do not get started on the po-faced irony over the fact that the role of the Evil Queen parallels her politics to an exacting degree. No matter how many trees director Marc Webb throws on the cinema screen, nothing comes across as more wooden and stiffer than Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen. Gadot can bring a formidable, bright, and spirited screen presence as she did in Wonder Woman (2017). Yet in Snow White, there is no commanding presence to be had, no menace to be found, and no charisma to be engaged through her work here. There are only bouts of mild unintentional laughter as we ponder why would anyone be fearful of her. If one were doubtful of her acting chops, her musical chops are even worse as you can hear the wood creaking from her physicality and her voice.
In the end, Snow White comes across as a creaky behemoth of a studio project led by the talented Rachel Zegler that is frontloaded with bad decisions, unconvincing bells and whistles, and a charisma black hole where an antagonist should be. Pass me the poison apple, this writer is done.
Summary: A creaky behemoth of a studio project led by the talented Rachel Zegler that is frontloaded with bad decisions, unconvincing bells and whistles, and a charisma black hole where an antagonist should be.
2
Poor
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