Long ago, Disney apparently made the executive decision to relegate its new, live-action remake of “Snow White” to movie jail – tucked away from the public eye before it even had the chance to premiere.
The production has long been mired by a slew of controversies, some far bigger than others (the online ire star Rachel Zegler incurred by pointing out that an animated film from 1937 isn’t the most forward-thinking when it comes to feminism was one of the dumbest days I’ve ever experienced on the internet). The film’s scaled-back premiere didn’t help the feeling that Disney wasn’t confident enough in this particular live-action offering to deal with public opinion surrounding its stars’ political beliefs, or its decision to portray the seven dwarves using CGI. “Snow White,” it seemed, would be a debacle of the largest kind.
You might be surprised to learn, then, that “Snow White,” directed by Marc Webb, is better than the average Disney live action remake that’s been forced down our throats over and over again for the past few years. Although, that isn’t saying much.
Zegler carries most of the film’s charm squarely on her shoulders, but the film does have a few interesting moments – moments where the visuals are arresting, moments where Webb is clearly pulling from great fantasy adventure/comedies of yore and making it work. But, the film still lives in a strange, uncanny valley middle ground between the real and the unreal, and a few moments that make you go, “Well that kind of worked,” do not a good movie make.
“Snow White” follows the bones of the story you know; a young princess (Zegler) loses her mother, and her father remarries a woman who turns out to be the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), who usurps the king’s throne when he fails to return from a military campaign. Snow White disappears in relative obscurity while the Evil Queen spends her days asking her Magic Mirror: “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”
When the mirror stops answering that question with the Evil Queen’s name and starts saying Snow White’s instead, Snow White avoids the queen’s attempt to have her killed – and here’s where the story starts to change. She still meets seven diamond-mining dwarfs and has a preternatural connection to animals. But, instead of Disney’s most forgettable prince as a love interest, she gets the cynical thief and rebel Jonathan (Andrew Burnap). Together, they team up to take the kingdom back.
When Snow White first escapes from the huntsman who the Evil Queen has sent to murder her, the sequence is reminiscent of the 1937 movie, the magical woods attempting to attack and subdue Snow White as she makes a break for it. Here, the film’s production design is at its best, the craggy branches grabbing at Snow White as a neon red light permeates the darkness of the forest. It feels unreal, but unlike some other unreal qualities of the film (such as the dwarfs and the design of the animals) it also feels grounded in appropriate and specific stylistic choices.
In contrast, almost everything to do with the kingdom, as well as Jonathan and his merry band of thieves, feels pulled straight out of something like “The Princess Bride.” The town square set in particular feels stagey and practical in a way that evokes 1997’s “Cinderella” with Brandy Norwood – although, that movie is far more colorful.
The difference between the styles used for the dark forest and for the kingdom betrays an unreliability in tone, but at the very least they are both strong, expressive choices. The problem is that for the majority of “Snow White,” neither one of them are on display, the film instead overcast with a muddled, blurry glaze of a visual style.
The changes to the story (the script was written by Erin Cressida Wilson, who, funnily enough, also penned the 2002 erotic dramedy “Secretary”) attempt to give Snow White more agency, and frankly more of a personality while still maintaining the character’s core goodness. Zegler has the Disney princess bit down pat, plucky and brave in one moment, wide-eyed and sweet the next. She’s also quite good at acting against things that aren’t real, like CGI animals and dwarfs (which she is asked to do a lot). Watching her sing, you’re reminded that truly great singers don’t just have nice voices, but know where to place their voice to achieve the desired effect, and how to emote and act their way through a song.
Compare that talent against Gadot, and it’s no contest. To her credit, Gadot does have a fine voice, but her singing – much like her performance – has zero nuance. She has one note, and she plays it at the highest pitch at all times. Maybe you don’t want subtlety in your Evil Queen performance, but subtlety isn’t what I’m asking for. A little variation would be nice – perhaps even a line delivery that involves more than a slight shimmy, a smirk, or a scream.
In spite of Gadot’s performance, “Snow White” is nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The new songs, written by duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (the team behind “Dear Evan Hansen” and “La La Land”) are perfectly serviceable pop Broadway – the kind of songs you enjoy while they’re playing and then immediately forget about five minutes later. Burnap is adequately charming as the love interest. The CGI dwarfs look very strange, but they could have looked worse, I guess?
In a nutshell, that’s the rub with “Snow White” – not great, but could have been worse! But, low initial low expectations shouldn’t allow a movie to get away with middling mediocrity. We shouldn’t let one of our brightest young stars be held captive by the Disney machine. We should expect more out of a movie that costs $270 million to make. Don’t we deserve better than, “not that bad?” I certainly think so.