Pauls Valley, Oklahoma —
Since no other entertainment Mecca overuses to death the same idea quite like Hollywood, it’s pretty much no surprise when any studio takes a stab at stealing something already established by someone else. Yet, actually managing to literally release the same character film no matter the presentation in the same year twice is a little further on the edge than even I usually fathom.
The plus to this angle was it at least wasn’t going to try to be the syrupy sweet comedy “Mirror Mirror” was and though I liked Julia Roberts as the villain, I really was digging how cool the same baddie was being portrayed in the trailers in the second effort. The negative side seems to be inserting the genetic combination of the female version of Nicholas Cage and Keanu Reeves into the more recent chapter, creating an emotional vortex capable of sucking in the best effort of everyone else and making every comedic version character seem Oscar worthy. “Snow White and the Huntsman” carried over a lot of the impressive visuals seen from the same producer as “Alice In Wonderland” and is a fine story short of the essential lead.
Right away the film actually starts out rather cool with a gritty King Arthur-ish medieval backdrop blending into a Middle Earth style adventure. Delivering with the best performance of the whole crew was Ravenna/the evil step mother (Charlize Theron) who takes care of the familiar fairy tale basics of seizing the kingdom, locking away Snow White (Kristen Stewart) and making everyone dead or miserable around her.
The sad thing is, I rather wish the heroic White had just stayed in the tower and her rescuer, the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) had just been given all of her screen time. This is despite having no real impression of Stewart not having seen the “Twighlight” Movies, but coming to the realization that all the jokes about her acting are true. Alas, we must witness her occasional emotionless moments interrupt a journey from thrilling escape to rise of power and meeting essential allies like Dwarves turned bandits led by Beith (Ian McShane).
Skirting the spoiler line as best as possible, the thing that really puts a nail in things is the horribly uninspiring ending and lack of connection between the two title characters. This is not fair to Hemsworth who has proven yet again how cool an action movie asset he can be for years to come.
Still, don’t so much let this discourage you from considering it while in theaters because everyone else does such a good job with their own roles, also including the creepy and sidekick presence of Ravenna’s brother Finn (Sam Spruell). It’s appropriate enough for most of the family, though potential nightmares for the youngest in a crowd is not out of possibility. This brings my final verdict for “Snow White and the Huntsman” to three out of five spells.
Movie viewing experience courtesy of the Royal Twin Theater of Pauls Valley.
Arts
Related Photos
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Poster for "Snow White and the Huntsman," showing this week at the Royal Twin Theater of Pauls Valley. Roth Films, Universal Pictures.
Discussion
‘Snow White & Huntsman’ one character short of awesome
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