It’s a shame that there’s been so much controversy surrounding Snow White, the latest Disney classic to get the live-action treatment, as Marc Webb‘s harmless musical is hardly strong or memorable enough to warrant the reaction it’s detractors have already decided it deserves.
Sure, lead star Rachel Zegler didn’t help matters with her comments on the original film’s outdated story, the Seven Dwarfs casting was a controversy in itself, and Gal Gadot – this film’s Evil Queen – having pro-Israel views was in stark contrast to Zegler’s Palestine support in the on-going conflict between Israel and Palestine, but the vitriol and keyboard warriors who have made their dissatisfaction with Webb’s take are louder than they need be.
Zegler is sure to win even the most staunch critic over with her stupendously charming turn, the Dwarfs, whilst a little odd-appearing at first due to their CGI enhancement, are quite adorable, and Gadot? Well, that criticism may be justified, it just needs to be aimed at a performance that’s fascinatingly camp, but doesn’t strike the right tone with the setting around her.
Penned by Erin Cressida Wilson (The Girl on the Train, Secretary) – with supposed uncredited additions from Barbie scribe Greta Gerwig – Snow White hits most of the major plot points of the 1937 animated original, which means that in the added 25 minutes-or-so of running time here (the original runs at 83 minutes, compared to the 109 minutes here) it has to wiggle in a series of updated beats that, overall, never feel as developed as they deserve to be.
There’s an awful lot of exposition on hand, with Snow White’s name getting its own origin, the King and Queen (briefly) ruling their kingdom with kindness, and the all-too-quick introduction of the Evil Queen in the wake of Snow White’s royal mother passing away and her tyranny over the castle. We’re all too aware of their contemptuous relationship, and we know that the Evil Queen’s vanity will drive her to wish death upon young Snow White for being “the fairest of them all”, so as everything’s playing out, we can’t help but respond even stronger to the fresher additions; whether they’re good or bad, at least they’re new.
Pasek and Paul (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), who struck considerable gold with their contributions to La La Land and The Greatest Showman, and beefed up the original songs of Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin remake, are on hand here, and their penmanship is all too noticeable. Such additions as “Waiting on a Wish” and “A Hand Meets a Hand” (both numbers for Zegler, with the latter a duet with Andrew Burnap‘s poor Prince Charming substitute, a chap named Jonathan) feel as if they have been pulled directly from the aforementioned Showman, or even Dear Evan Hansen (another of their works), whilst Gadot’s number “All Is Fair” earns prominence for the fact that it’s so over the top and performed for audiences that are sitting even further than the back of the room.
As Snow White gains her courage to fight back against the Evil Queen, the film spends the majority of its time flitting between convincing us that she and Jonathan are great loves (Burnap is a sweet kid, but leading man material he is not, and the chemistry with Zegler barely registers) and the flourishing friendship with the Dwarfs. The Dwarfs (who are voiced by the likes of Tituss Burgess, Andrew Barth Feldman and Martin Klebba, who actually has a form of dwarfism) ultimately win you over with their camaraderie and inherent sweetness (particularly the iteration of Dopey), but they are awkwardly rendered with CGI that keeps them in this odd limbo of appearing close to human, but too generated to be believed. Basically, this cartoonish humanism only reiterates the point of actor Peter Dinklage, who stated how insulting the roles of the Dwarfs would be to actors of such stature.
Of course, this is all coming from a more adult view, and it’s very likely that young children will easily digest Snow White as a film. It’s never overtly scary (Gadot’s too theatrical to cause any unsettlement), the songs are pleasant, the Dwarfs cater to a younger-minded mentality, it’s admirably not a shot-for-shot remake, and Zegler is the epitome of a Disney Princess, with her beauty and pluck sure to rouse the appropriate audiences.
Not as sweet as the apple pies Snow White treats her subjects to, but not nearly the poisonous recipe many were expecting.
TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Snow White is now screening in Australian theatres.
