troy-manatunga

(2013-05-21 16:49:36)

A fairy tale that is enjoyable

07/10 is the best I can rate this movie. As much as I am beingpersuaded by my conscience to rate her in the upper ranks of 08 (4Stars) I simply need to be true to myself and be unbiased with myreview. SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN is a fairy tale told with sheerpassion. The last Epic fairytale was unfolded when Lucy walked throughthe cupboard that stood all by itself in large room. The spell-boundland of NARNIA took the adult audience as much as the kids on awhirlwind of magical wonders until she wrapped up her tales in the year2010. Rated as PG13 SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN will not capture the youngeraudience and is likely to score more with a more mature audience.Although a fairy-tale most popularly known director Rupert Sandersexperiments with this debut motion picture direction. You will be takenthrough a little bit of GLADIATOR, some magical moments of ALICE INWONDERLAND, the dark forests of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, the evil ofNARNIA and finally Rupert Sanders own creation of SNOW WHITE & THEHUNTSMAN.The casting of SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN is one of the biggest riskstaken by the casting team. Why did I say that? Kristen Stewart is Bellaand always will be seen as Bella if she fails to come out as SnowWhite, Chris Hemsworth is the THOR and Charlize Theron has beenstruggling with her movies for some time now. Charlize Theron did makeher mark with MONSTER back in 2003 and has never been as good sincethen. Undoubtedly with diverse talent she is largely convincing as thestep mother and the dark queen Ravenna who kills the king (Snow WhitesFather) and imprisons Snow White all her life until she finally escapesthe clutches of Ravenna. However it is obvious that Theron struggles inbringing out the evil in the queen and is mostly observed as screamingher lines rather than being sinister. The beauty that is KristenStewart is the perfect Snow White. She fits the character like a glove.Innocent and pretty although when she does suit up into armor forbattle to avenge her father's death, she does look as if she isparading for a fancy dress competition and is also obviously shoutingout lines instead of speaking them with emotion. Chris Hemsworth akaTHOR is the huntsman recruited by the queen to hunt down Snow Whiteonce she escapes from the castle. The Avenger that turns huntsman byfar is the only flawless performance in SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN.Another that I took liking is the atmosphere injected by Rupert Sandersand his team using modern day CGI. Whilst the dark forest fails toimpress the land of the fairies does have a touch of Pandora fromAVATAR mixed with a pinch HARRY POTTER.The positive attributes of the entire production does overpower the badattributes overall, however if you do drop an ink to glass of milk themilk will discolor irrespective of the quantity of ink. Likewise SNOWWHITE & THE HUNTSMAN does have a few shortfalls and is tainted. Thuslyone may savor the success that is SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN andappreciate it more if they consider the fact that this is RupertSanders debut in movie making. The writers are not widely exposed norexperienced although they have done a fairly good job with the scriptbut it certainly isn't the best.SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN comprises of ground breaking direction for adebut motion picture, astute selection in casting considering thefragile actress Kristen Stewart is, good moments of CGI integration,above average performances with minor hiccups and a weak script thathas been brought to life wisely.TITLE: SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN DIRECTED BY: RUPERT SANDERS STARRING:KRISTEN STEWART, CHRIS HEMSWORTH & CHARLIZE THERON RATED: PG 13 RATING07/10 127 MINUTES

kluseba

(2013-05-21 06:49:11)

Enchanting effects and images despite a couple of flaws

Snow White and the Huntsman is a classic fantasy movie based on thefamous German fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. The movieis loosely bound on the most important elements of that fairy tale buthas not the same dark vibe as the original. This adaption ratherconvinces with many great images and a couple of breathtaking specialeffects. Especially the more beautiful moments in the fairy world arevery well done and may touch your soul. A lot of animals, dwarfs,fairies and trolls appear in the movie and are all very beautiful towatch and created with a lot of inspiring details. The fantasticelements in this movie are not too childish and in fact quiteconvincing and mix dark with light elements. This movie can beappreciated by children as well as by adults which isn't the case forrecent movies such as The Hunger Games or John Carter that approach ayounger audience.The acting is quite a mixed bag. I really liked the interpretation ofthe huntsman by a very solid Chris Hemsworth, a charismatic antiherothat suffers from the tragic death of his wife and drowns his numerousproblems in alcohol. Charlize Theron is as convincing as the evil QueenRavenna and it's interesting that the movie also portrays herstruggles, her tragic faith and the reasons behind her actions. Thecharacter is very complex and profound and not simply your usualvillain. Ravenna's brother Finn played by Sam Spruell is also anotherconvincing character with multiple facets. Especially the connectionbetween brother and sister are very well portrayed in this feature.From that angle, this movie deserves a lot of positive critics but Idisliked the acting of main actress Kristen Stewart as Snow White. Sheclearly lacks charisma and can't convince next to all these excellentsupporting actors. When she becomes the leader of a rebellion ortouches the heart of a broken man, she simply isn't convincing. Shedoesn't have the beauty, the charm and the smartness to fit this role.Her acting was a huge letdown and I would have liked to see someoneelse portraying that role.The story itself is no surprise to anyone that has read the fairy taleand it doesn't come close to the dark and poetic original. One thingthat truly bothered me is the ending of that movie that ended with aquite ordinary scene and no true conclusion. One would have liked toknow what would happen to the kingdom and its citizens, to the charmingfantastic characters and to the slightly romantic relationship betweenSnow White and the Huntsman or her childhood friend William who clearlyis in love with her. With ten or fifteen more minutes, this movie couldhave been more complete, profound and even give a possibility to asequel but the screenplay finishes on a most ordinary note.In the end, this movie is very beautiful to watch, includes manycharming characters and has almost no lengths as it is veryentertaining. The main actress, some plot problems and especially theweak ending keep this movie away from being a truly outstandingblockbuster and doesn't do justice to the fantastic German fairy tale.On the other side, it's another solid fantasy movie this year afterJohn Carter and The Hunger Games and this genre seems to live a quitepositive survival this year. I think by the end of the year, this moviewon't be among the most outstanding adaptations of old fantasy novelsbut still be a quite good one.

eric_canalla

(2013-05-21 15:46:33)

Bring THE HOBBIT already!

Fact: Peter Jackson's THE HOBBIT is better than SNOW WHITE AND THEHUNTSMAN. But why I just compared Rupert Sanders' (Rupert Sanders who?)take on the classic tale of "Snow White" with a Peter Jackson moviethat nobody has seen already? Well, because of two things mainly; firstis the fact that I didn't know a thing about "Snow White & Huntsman" (Inever watched a trailer or anything from it) so I was totally surprisedto find out that this is pretty much a Middle Ages/fantasy picture,with stuff like swords, archers, war horses and (of course) dwarfs (allof these elements clearly reminded me of Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGSmasterpieces – hell, some dwarfs here even look like Jackson himself!).And the second reason is that "Snow White & Huntsman" didn't raise thebar in a considerable way for the upcoming Middle Ages/fantasy movies,so you can easily tell that THE HOBBIT will be this year's real deal. But it's certainly kind of unfair to compare this new version of "SnowWhite" with something from the director of the big and great LORD OFTHE RINGS trilogy; I mean, "Snow White & Huntsman" isn't great, at all,but it does have some enjoyable things. I had no desire at all to checkthis one out, especially on the big screen, but some weeks ago I wentwith my family to the cinema without a specific movie in mind and thiswas the next movie playing so what the hell, we thought. I can't reallysay it was a pleasant surprise since in the end I'm not going torecommend it to you; nevertheless it was better than what I expectedand, like I said, I could enjoy some stuff. What kind of things I did enjoy? Well, the Middle Age setting is quitegood, with some great landscapes. The idea is having our maincharacters, those from the title, finding different creatures duringtheir journey in the forest. Talking about the principal roles, well,the TWILIGHT girl does a decent work as the princess Snow White (Imean, she is not terrible!) and that THOR guy is good as the huntsman –I liked the introduction to the huntsman character since it reminded meof Brad Pitt in SNATCH. Also, I didn't realize, until my cousin toldme, that Nick Frost (yes, the same one from, amongst others, HOT FUZZand PAUL) is one of the dwarfs! But the main problem of this film is that only after some weeks ofwatching it I don't really remember that much about it; I mean, it'ssimply not a very memorable one. For instance, there's a part when ourmain characters run across a troll. It's a cool kind of thing and thetroll looks quite good but the overall sequence is just nothing to diefor (we a very disappointing conclusion for the troll, to be morespecific). Or just take the thing with the dwarfs: yes, it was sort ofrefreshing when they appear but is there any memorable dwarf? Notreally. And I do think people remember the dwarfs from the Disneyversion of "Snow White", for example (I have yet to see that version!Shame on me!), or the great Gimli from THE LORD OF THE RINGS! So yes,is time for me to check out that acclaimed animated version of thisfamous tale. *Watched it on 21 June, 2012

anitaksong

(2013-05-20 21:43:31)

Doesn't even compare with Alice in Wonderland..thumbs down

I definitely had higher expectations for this movie due to the cast. Iam usually entertained quite easily and enjoy almost all movies. I'mthe girl that comes out of a movie thinking 'that was a good movie,'when everyone else thought it was crap. I'm THAT girl. However, Irecall sitting in the theatre watching this film, and I actually wantedto leave, which is a very rare circumstance for me. This dark fairytale remake was definitely a low grade on my rating scale.Charlize Theron was the wicked stepmother, Ravenna, in this film anddid a horrible job portraying this character. It was not one of herstrongest roles and I felt her acting was too over the top andexaggerated. Kristen Stewart was the leading role, Snow White, in thisfilm and as in any other film she's been in, her acting was very dulland blank. I found that she was a bit too contemporary for this roleand just didn't quite 'fit in' to the era of the movie. ChrisHemsworth, who already had great success this year in "The Cabin in theWoods" and "Avengers," probably was the best performance in this film.Needless to say, he was also the reason I ended up sitting in my seatfor the whole duration of the movie. The director, Rupert Sanders is afirst-time feature director, which may also explain why I did not enjoythis film. The scenes dragged on a bit too much and there was noclimax, character development or much of anything besides impressivevisual effects and some slick action scenes.The plot is the typical kingdom plunged into darkness ruled by QueenRavenna (Charlize Theron) after she kills the King and banishes SnowWhite (Kristen Stewart) into a cell in the castle. Snow White ends upescaping and Ravenna hires the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to captureher which inevitably turns into a love story where they startdeveloping feelings for one another as they go through this adventurein the woods together trying to escape Ravenna. The story is steered byRavenna's only motivation to remain beautiful and youthful. The genreof this movie falls under an umbrella of action, adventure, drama and abit of sci-fi. Unfortunately, none of the magic translated to the plotor the characters and the classic fairy story was just too stretchedout at a breaking point of over two hours.

kr_004

(2013-05-20 14:28:29)

A stunning version of a classic fairy tale.

If you're like me, you've seen just about every version of this storyas well as read many books. This movie had me on the edge of my seat,laughing & crying all in 2 hours. The acting was great. Kristen Stewart pulls it off. I was surprised.Chris Hemsworth is the definition of his character. Charlize Theron asthe Queen, I couldn't have cast this better myself.The plot in this movie had twists that I didn't expect. It's a greatversion of the classic. I can't even begin to explain how gorgeous thisfilm is. The landscape will take your breath away. I felt like I wasphysically there.If you're in the mood for adventure, this movie is it. Someone on herewrote a review that says it all: "Lord of the Rings meets Legend". I'lldefinitely be buying this on DVD when it comes out. Fantastic. Enjoy!

jackward84

(2013-05-19 22:43:31)

Awful movie.

I don't see movies very often but tend to enjoy myself when I do. Thatmuch can't be said for this monstrosity of film-making.Kirsten Stewart was a terrible choice of actress. I ended up playing agame to count the number of times she showed emotion on her face, I wasthat bored.The story made little sense, it started to seem like random encountersand scenes were thrown in to give the film a "twist" that it lacked.ClichГѓВ© acting and dramatising. I felt dumber having watched it.My girlfriend who dragged me along to see this abomination agreed thatit was a bad movie. I was squirming in my seat by the end and asking"can we just leave?". I signed up for this website just to warn peoplenot to see it. Save your time and your sanity.

WatchedAllMovies

(2013-05-19 13:40:18)

A dark version of the tale

This movie completely rewrites the snow white story, but retainsseveral key objects, like an evil queen, a mirror on the wall, snowwhite, seven dwarfs, poison apple, ...Plot wise, plot holes are all over the place. So, if you can't standmovies with plot holes, you don't want to see this. To enjoy thismovie, you just have to put your common sense on hold.What the movie does well is the special effects. The most interesting,and perhaps the first, is to shrink seven actors into dwarf sizes. Theyare the best and most naturally looking movie dwarfs.I think Charlize Theron would look better as snow white. They shouldreverse the roles of the two main actresses. The age issue can beeasily fixed with computer graphics. This would create even morecontroversy and therefore more publicity.Most of the movies are fairly interesting, except one or two sceneswhere people talk on and on. Those can be easily skipped.The most disappointing part is there is no "making of the dwarfs" onthe DVD. I really want to know how it's done.Overall it is an enjoyable movie. Now make another fairy tale likethis!

Fahad Liaquat

(2013-05-18 20:36:14)

Evil Queen was better appealing to me than the Snow White

Snow White and the Huntsman was visually stunning & the cinematographyis breathtaking. The costumes, set and color scheme were all handedgorgeous by Colleen Atwood. The special effects were tremendous & thebest part of the movie. I really most enjoyed the darkness of the evilQueen who was phenomenally acted by Charlize Theron, and once againKristen Stewart proves lack of her acting ability also in the role ofSnow White. In fact, evil Queen was better appealing to me than theSnow White. All the other actors were brilliantly cast and gavecompelling performance. Overall this is one of those movies where weall expected little more punch.

mysticnox

(2013-05-18 05:34:47)

Not bad, not great.

Let's start with what's good about the movie.Charlize Theron, as usual is awesome. I forgot how beautiful she reallyis. Her acting is always good, no matter what she's in. Chris Hemsworth. Always handsome, even when scrubby. Excellent actor. Loved the dwarfs. Glad they didn't turn them into a joke like theycould have. FX were excellent. Loved how the magic is fairly subtle but powerfuland terrifying.Honestly, the best parts of the movie were Charlize Theron and ChrisHemsworth. The problem is that they had to try to play off Kristen Stewart whobrought the whole movie down. As usual, she can't act in the least.Hemsworth and Stewart had next to no chemistry. Ah heck, she didn'thave chemistry with anyone there, not even the dwarfs (which was reallya pity since I'm betting that dance with Gus was supposed to be sweet,but just looked intensely awkward and uncomfortable).People need to stop employing Kristen Stewart to do anything. Justbecause Twilight ended up being a hit for unknown reasons doesn't meanshe can act.

Sheffield_Dallas

(2013-05-17 11:10:50)

A review mainstream critics won't give you.

It seems this movie, from first time director Rupert Sanders and co-writer John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, The Alamo) is made as acommercial assembly line product designed for as many demographics aspossible. Kristen Stewart of *sigh* Twilight "fame" stars as thetitular Snow White, pandering to the female audience, as well as"feminists" (yeah right, this movie would make Susan B. Anthony quakein her boots.) Chris Hemsworth stars as the titular Huntsman, givingonly a slightly worse performance than is role in Thor, pandering tothe teen-aged girls looking for eye candy. Charlize Therone stars asthe best part of the movie as the evil queen. Her performance could bedescribed as a female Satan doing an impersonation of Bruce Payne fromDungeans & Dragons. She is pandering to the guy crowd. Finally, we havethe under utilized dwarfs who are given little screen time for peopleto properly recognize the actors in said roles. The story of Snow White is so well known that I should spare you thetrouble of reading ANOTHER summary. Now, as a commercial product, it isnot bad, per se, it's just more of an annoyance, watching things in amovie that have already been done so many times in other movies, letalone Snow White movies like the Disney film and Tarsem's Mirror,Mirror. For instance, this film comes to us, "From the Producer ofAlice in Wonderland," which has about as much meaning as advertisingTransformers 3 as being "From the producer of Letters to Iwo Jima."This film tries to evoke imagery from Alice in Wonderland (2010), RobinHood (2010), Pan's Labyrinth, Lord of the Rings, and, finally, *sinh*Twilight. I don't know about you, but when a movie has a $150 millionbudget, I expect them to take some creative chances. NOPE!!! Finally, time to talk about the director. Probably trying to copy fromthe book of Disney, Universal gave a director of TV commericals abudget that not even Michael Bay had with Bad Boys 2. Now, while thisworked for Joseph Kosinki in Tron: Legacy, at least Kosinski knew howto tell a story with digital effects, as evident from his Halo 3 andGeasrs of War commercial. In this film, no such luck. I'm not going tosay whether or not Rupert Sanders is a bad director for making one badmovie. However, I will say that if he continues making films like this,the inevitable decision is simple.

moviexclusive

(2013-05-17 13:19:27)

Dark and unrelentingly Grimm take on the beloved fairy tale, but one that is visually astounding and grippingly paced

Never in our farthest imaginings did we envision Snow White to be anass-kicking warrior princess who would lead an entire army into battle,but that's the reason why first-time feature film director RupertSanders' interpretation of one of the Brothers Grimm's most belovedfairy tales has been labelled revisionist. Inspired no doubt by the contemporary age of feminism, first-timewriter Evan Daugherty has taken interesting liberties with both thetitular character as well as the villainous Queen. The latter inparticular is given an intriguing twist as a woman both liberated andtrapped by her beauty, for it was her ravishing looks that first wonher the attention of a king but which diminishing by age had left herheartbroken. Fuelled by contempt, Ravenna has over decades gone fromkingdom to kingdom winning the hearts of kings and then taking theirlives.Her latest conquest is that of a kind-hearted widowed King Magnus (NoahHuntley) and father of Snow White, whom she poisons then slaughterswith a dagger on their wedding night. Of his young daughter Snow Whiteshe keeps imprisoned in a high tower, until a premonition by her goldenmirror on the wall years later leaves her yearning for the come-of-ageSnow White's heart to achieve true immortality. Alas Snow White seizesthe opportunity to escape when Queen Ravenna's brother Finn (SamSpruell) enters her cell to retrieve her for the Queen, fleeing theconfines of her father's former castle for the enchanted Dark Forest.In turn, the Queen sends a grief-stricken drunk known only as theHuntsman (Chris Hemsworth) with knowledge of the woods in pursuit-though it doesn't take long before he switches sides and ends upprotecting her against Finn and the rest of his army. As Snow Whiteendeavours to get to the grounds of Duke Hammond, an ally of herfather's, the Huntsman becomes as much her protector as well as herromantic interest. But as formula would dictate, there should beanother corner to complete the love triangle- hence the obligatorypresence of the Duke's son William (Sam Claflin), who has apparentlyhad a soft spot for Snow White since he was young.What happened to the dwarfs you might be ask? Well, rest easy if you'rea fan of the tale- the seven dwarfs are still around, though they onlyappear in the second half of the movie. And just to reassure you thatthey have not been sidelined, they do play a pivotal role in SnowWhite's mission to depose the Queen. As portrayed by a whole bevy ofdistinguished British character actors the likes of Ian McShane, BobHoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Toby Jones and Brian Gleeson, theirrowdy presence is also a much welcomed one, bringing some sorelymissing levity into the otherwise sombre proceedings.While the signature elements- poisoned apple, wall-hanging mirror,dwarfs and evil Queen- are no doubt drawn from the classic fairy tale,Daugherty and his co-screenwriters John Lee Hancock and Hossein Aminiadopt a cinematic tone and style taken from more contemporary fantasyadventures. In fact, the trio together with Sanders could be accused ofleaning too heavily on some of these- Sanders' framing of Snow White'squest using sweeping shots against mountainous backdrops set to Celticmusic is all too reminiscent of 'Lord of the Rings'; while a late plottwist that gives new meaning to Snow White's symbol as saviour to thepeople immediately invites comparisons with 'Narnia'.Chiefly, their version of Snow White isn't so much Snow White as weknow of it, but a feminist version of Robin Hood, who not only standsup for the injustices of those around her but leads them to battleagainst the forces that prevail. In that regard, this Snow White isn'tall that different from Tarsem's earlier 'Mirror, Mirror', whoseprotagonist was similarly independent-minded if less swash-buckling.The new-age notion of Snow White as war heroine is interesting, but onethat is ultimately let down by Kristen Stewart's bland portrayal.Consequently, this Snow White functions less as a character in itself,than as an obligatory complement to the malevolent Evil Queen, playedwith icy menace by Charlize Theron. The Oscar winner steals everyminute of the show she is in- hers a coolly calculated performance ofpent-up fury waiting to unleash itself. Theron is also aided by somenifty CGI and designer Colleen Atwood's ravishing costumes, and wewatch transfixed as she steps into a creamy milk bath or transformsback into human form from a flock of crows with her mantle and cloak aglistening black oil slick.Yes, Sanders, who hails from the world of commercials and Xbox games,has a keen eye for visuals, and it shows amply in the gorgeouslycrafted shots- especially the contrast between light and dark torepresent scenes of hope and despair respectively. And despiteborrowing slightly too heavily from genre material, Sanders' maidenattempt at a big-budget summer tentpole is as assured a debut as any-it is also to his credit that though the story does unfold at a verydeliberate pace in the middle, it never turns out boring.With this version of Snow White, Hollywood continues its recent trendof revisiting classic fairy tales for a modern-day twist, a formulathat proved successful for 'Alice in Wonderland' but less so for 'RedRiding Hood'. On account of its distinctive take on the evil Queen aswell as its nightmarishly brutal tone, it belongs in the league of theformer than the latter. And indeed, having seen both 'Snow White' filmsthis year, we can firmly say that this is the one you should see. - www.moviexclusive.com

n_peart_2112

(2013-05-17 05:31:17)

why so much hate?

It absolutely baffles me how so many people (Mostly women) hate onKristen Stewart, and yet they go see every single Twilight Movieseveral times in Theaters. She is a bad actor when it comes to theTwilight movies, because lets face it, the dialogue is painfully awfulin those movies!!! If you are forced to work with a garbage script, youcan't expect it to turn out good. I enjoyed Snow White and the Huntsmanvery much, and I thought the entire cast was spectacular, (yes, EvenKristen was good!!). And for everyone who thinks she isn't nearlyattractive enough to play Snow White, you have missed the entire pointof the story. Charlize plays a beautiful tall blond goddess of a woman,but is cruel, empathy lacking, and sadistic. Snow White is theembodiment of life itself, has an affinity for nature, animals, andclearly has it within herself to care for other people. With a greatdisdain for sounding clichГѓВ©, that is what true beauty is. And I don'tknow about the rest of you, but I find Kristen Stewart very attractive.She looks like someone that would grow up in your neighbourhood and hasthat certain something that makes her stand out above all thecheer-leading bimbos at your school, because she doesn't conform to theHollywood standard of beauty (pouty duck face lips, long Barbie dolllegs, anorexic-thin mid section, over-sized fake breasts, and an IQthat matches her waist size).I give SW&THM an 8/10 for a great dark story, beautiful direction andcinematography, a top notch cast, and for not forgetting to include thedwarfs!!

tommmk

(2013-05-15 21:53:21)

Where Are the Sex Pistols When You Need Them?

Hmm... Ten lines to explain what a clichГѓВ© this movie is? Hardly worththe effort really. I guess I will stick to complaining about howtypecast and boring poor Charlize Theron has become, this once-greatactress who was so phenomenal in "Monster" but apparently now reducedto playing the same wicked witch roles over and over. And yet Therongives the best performance of a bad lot, including Chris Hemsworth, whoapparently still has only two expressions (maybe one day he will treatthe audience to a third). Not to mention Kristen Stewart, as thedeposed princess who dons armor and raises her voice to exhort herarmy, but for me manages to inspire only chuckles. I did enjoy some ofthe moody cinematography, but the camera resorts to hand-held jittersduring the regularly occurring battle scenes, yet another clichГѓВ©. Iwill also admit to liking the scene set in the fairy land, but whodoesn't like fairies and cuddly animals? Unless you like your clichГѓВ©staken very, very seriously, I say SKIP IT.

(2013-05-15 12:02:12)

You lost me at "Kristen Stewart is fairer than Charlize Theron"

Underwhelming. Aimless. Disappointing. All words that I've heard mygrandmother use to describe my Uncle Larry's life. But these words alsoconvey the snooze-inducing experience of watching Snow White and theHuntsman.Centered on the implausible – and downright laughable – premise thatKristen Stewart is fairer than Charlize Theron, Snow White lumbers outof the gate at such a slow pace that my interest was immediatelydisengaged and I soon found it hard to stay awake. The film is pepperedwith moments of action and fight scenes, but the pacing remains uneventhroughout and viewers ultimately receive nothing more than false hopethat the story will eventually come alive.The main problem with this is that all the trailers I had seen wereaction-packed and promised a dark and thrilling adventure. As such,they certainly served their purpose – I was convinced to pay to seethis on the big screen. Unfortunately, the 2 1/2 minutes of jam-packedaction we're treated to in the trailers is spread throughout two hoursof runtime, leaving a whole bunch of wandering filler.It's a shame because I was on board for a re-imagining of the SnowWhite fairy tale. Unfortunately, the film's lack of imagination causedme to jump ship. The uneven pacing, uninteresting dialogue, anduninspired action all make for one big missed opportunity. Sure, thecinematography is easy on the eyes, and the special effects provide alittle fun, but overall the film gives us no real substance, and to behonest, not enough style to compensate.Theron is great as the Queen. Despite a few moments of some voraciousscene-chewing, she takes the role seriously and gives it her all.Stewart, on the other hand, does what she does in every movie I've everseen her in – act like Kristen Stewart. Therein lies a major problemwith the story's narrative – Theron is more convincing as theantagonist than Stewart is as the protagonist. She gives a big speechnear the end of the film that's meant to inspire her friends – and Isuppose the audience – as she sets to do battle with the Queen, but allit inspired within me were a few giggles. The fact that her pulled backhair and chain mail makes her look like a 10-year-old boy dressed up asa knight for Halloween doesn't exactly make her any more convincing.Snow White and the Huntsman isn't a terrible movie and it has a fewshining moments, but it is terribly unbalanced and the shine quicklyfades. You'd be wise to wait for it to hit Redbox or Netflix.

tabuno

(2013-05-15 09:27:52)

Glimpses of Brilliance but Over-reached Itselt

This over-reaching version of Snow White introduced too many newelements and the weight of the movie almost collapsed upon itself,pulling the movie down from succeeding in dazzling its audience withmany worthy potentially astounding accomplishments. Charlize Theron asRavenna took on a role that had great potential and her performance wasadmirable, but betrayed by a well-intentioned but flawed script thatattempted to humanize this evil character, but not succeeding in itsmore balanced, wavering presentation. The movie was bogged down as inthe forest of misery eclectically pulling from so many variousclassical movies that it become almost lost in itself. The PrincessBride (1987) without the humor, memorable characters except forRavenna; The Lord of the Rings (2001) without the consistency andfocus; 94. The Chronicles of Naria: The Lion, The Witch, and TheWardrobe (2005) except for the youthful, light elements and thepersistent magic fusion into the entire plot; or the epic nature ofMedieval classic Excaliber (1981). Snow White and the Huntsman'scontemporary Mirror, Mirror (2002) captured well both the essence ofthe original fairy tale, personalizing the dwarfs with individualcharacter, avoiding the confusing inclusion of two male protagonistswhose relationship with Snow White was never fully developed.The movie's first half bordered on a darker occult, horror bent withConstantine (2005), or the more pertinent adult Medieval horror ofBlack Death (2010). Unlike A Wrinkle in Time (2002), this more darker,adolescent version of Snow White didn't retain the charm and fairy-talebackdrop, except for the fairy forest. The principal character of SnowWhite played by Kirsten Stewart was unevenly portrayed and the balancebetween naive, innocent princess and a strong bold Medieval warriorlike Joan of Arc or Jennifer Garner in Elektra (2005) was confusing andnot consistently believable, or even more compelling would have been acharacter-based on Sarah Michelle Geller as Buffy the Vampire Slayerthat combined both innocent high school female with a sturdy, hard edgeability to slay. Even Ravenna's brother's character was inconsistentlyportrayed whose transformation throughout the movie didn't seembelievable.Overall, the movie had several brilliant and visually creativelydazzling scenes and its efforts towards blurring the good and bad wascommendable, but the end result was a compilation of numerous fantasythreads that weren't woven into a nicely, knit together composition.

horanpa

(2013-05-14 16:13:35)

Fantastical awesomeness of a movie.....

I had been looking forward to see this film for months, ever since thefirst trailer was released late last year. However just a few weeksinto its release into theaters in Australia on June 21st and criticssmashed it for its 'inconsistent acting' and also for having 'a boringplot'. It is a very old story and to some degree the audience knows howit is going to end. But the film really did deliver, several scenes(The milk bath, Ravenna transforming into a flock ravens, the warriorson the beach and the sanctuary scene) were probably the best sequencesin film history i have ever witnessed. i deeply enjoy fantasy films andthis is my favorite.i am not biased or anything but i did grow up watching the Disney 30'scartoon and first time director Rupert Sanders did an amazing job ofincorporating elements from that film. I found that he also did a greatjob of justifying the evil queen and toughening Snow White up to areminiscent Joan of Arc on a quest to vanquish the evil queen.Music by James Newton Howard, particularly the Florence and the Machinesingle 'Breath of Life' at the end credits added a height ofadrenaline, emotion and originality to the visually stunning film.The actors were surprisingly consistent despite what the narrow mindedcritics say. Kristen Stewart as Snow White was a highly logicaldecision for Universal, she is an 'it' girl, everyone knows her andeven though some people may not particularly like her (credit to thetwilight films) she reeled in audiences and added a volume ofpopularity to the franchise. Her acting skills began to peek throughthe cracks of that hard facade she puts on for the twilight films,luckily the protagonists roles are evenly distributed so the audienceis not left alone with her for too long. Chris Hemsworth is good as theHuntsman and does a pretty good job on the Scottish-British-medievalaccent. Sam Claffin however did not stray far from his role in Piratesof the Caribbean on Stranger Tides early last year, honestly, icouldn't tell that he was trying to be a different person.But it is theMAGNIFICENTLY-AMAZING-NOT-TO-MENTION-INCREDIBLY-GOOD-LOOKING CharlizeTheron that gives the best performance. The evil Queen Ravenna issimplex, emotional, damaged, power-hungry and unpredictable. Every lineshe gives is as unsteady as the waves of the ocean. The audience neverknows what is going to happen next and that is exciting. She soaredover her co-stars and will forever remain a great actress forportraying a such a dark, fascinating character. They did a great jobof making Charlize look old and the costume designer Colien Atwood dida fantastic job, making gowns and patterns from beetles wings and evenreplicas of infant bones!The Dwarfs were a temporary comedic distraction from the serenity ofthe plot, a little annoying for me, however Ian Mcshane, Toby Jones andseveral famous actors play the tole of the Dwarfs and are tremendousactors but i was far too interested in the stunning Theron to care forthe dwarfs at all.i am planning to see this film again and when it comes out i am buyingit and watching it over and over, because it is possibly the best filmi have ever scene. Go see it,it's great and the people on something whodon't like it need to go to SpecSavers.

demetrius11

(2013-05-14 15:44:26)

Worst Snowhite Ever, but Best Evil Queen Ever too !

This is a movie that is balanced by two extremes. An amazing evil queenplayed by the excellent Charlize Theron, and the performance of theextremely untalented Kristen Stewart who is unable to perform anythingthat does not resemble her role in Twilight. Charlize Theron manages togive her character depth, emotion and a very convincing background thatalmost makes her likable at times by explaining why she has become the"thing" she became. It would be unfair of course not to mention thefact that her character has received very special treatment by thewriters. As a matter of fact, the only thing that the writers botheredto write about in this script was she. Everything else in this movie isjust "small print". The writers and producers focused on creating afantastic "Evil" Charlize Theron, they spent all the budget on herspecial effects, gave her all the cool lines, and just left everythingelse to the talent of the actors. Since the actors are not particularlytalented though, this did not work out in the end. So when "Snowhite"was on the screen, the audience was trying to find ways to pass thetime. Her emotional scenes were exceptionally bad, as Kristen Stewarthas only one single facial expression with which she acts. It is acombination of "annoyed teenager"+"something smells bad"+"I will cry in5 seconds". No one can go through 10 movies with this expression ofcourse, and personally I do not intend to ever pay for another filmstarring Kristen Stewart! If you do not take into account the existenceof Snowhite, and if you forget the fact that the Evil Queen has toloose in the end, this is a good film !

Jessica

(2013-05-13 16:49:33)

This movie was AMAZING!

The only reason I'm giving it 9 out of 10 stars, is because I felt theending could've been a bit stronger. But really that's it. The endingwas good, but it could've had more of a BANG.First off, let me just say that anyone bad talking this movie is one ormore of these things: 1) Obsessed with Robert Pattinson subsequentlyhating his girlfriend; 2) HATES Twilight and therefore walked into thismovie already biased; and/or 3)Don't like movies of this genre. Themovie was epic if you ask me.For a director that's been mostly, if not all, focused on commercials -he put one helluva movie together. The visuals and feel of the moviewere highlights of the experience, no doubt. Imagine Chronicles ofNarnia meets Wizard of Oz. It was awesome.Kristen Stewart/Snow White - I thought she was good. Again, she's gotsome growing up to do, but I think she was good. I can't imagineanyone, short of Natalie Portman, pulling this role off 100% correctly.Without a shadow of a doubt, she definitely had the look down though.She looked absolutely gorgeous, dirty and all, throughout the movie.Chris Hemsworth/The Huntsman - This guy is DEFINITELY coming intoHollywood with a vengeance. Yes, I know he's been around for a fewyears, but his career appears to have just taken off in the last yearor so. He's determined to be the new Brad Pitt. Very talented andunbelievably hot. Give him ONE seriously good role. I'm telling you allhe's going to soon show and prove. You heard it HERE first.Charlize Theron/Ravenna - HOLY ****! I've heard people describe her asplaying this character in an "annoying" way. Uh, WHAT? She was apsychotic (she really believed her mirror was talking to her...and itwasn't), vain, envious, bitter nut job that dabbled in black magic. Andshe pulled it off PERFECTLY! But really, is that too much of a shockerfor Charlize Theron? No. It is not.Sam Claflin/Prince William - I liked him...I guess. He was definitelythe most pointless of characters in the film. I think he was justthrown in there for the sake of staying true to the story. Because itVERY obvious ::SPOILER:: Snow White was in love, and vice versa, withthe Huntsman.Dwarfs: The BEST part! Basically, disregard the ridiculous reviews.Anyone hating on this movie is simply a HATER. The movie wasabsolutely, positively great.

unbrokenmetal

(2013-05-11 16:44:57)

Of rage and war

Due to the mixed reviews, I didn't rush but waited for Christmas beforeI watched it, yet then I liked the movie much more than I had expected.Undoubtedly the performance of Charlize Theron as Evil Queen isexcellent, but Chris Hemsworth shows that he can do more than playingthe smiling blonde hero 'Thor'. His huntsman never disposes easily ofenemies, he's hit very hard quite often, and drinks a lot to forgetpast defeats. I have seen Kristen Stewart (Snow White) only oncebefore, namely as Joan Jett in the 'Runaways' movie, and she may seem astrange choice as Princess, because she is to embody the Pure & Sweet.Pure and sweet would frankly not be the words that spring to my mindwhen describing Joan Jett, and in that role Kristen Stewart was verygood. But it must be said that the Snow White character starts a war atthe first opportunity, and that rage and vengeance would be hard toplay convincingly for a nice blonde, Stewart certainly is better atthat.Altogether, 'Snow White' as a modern dark fantasy film succeeded in myview. It did not do too much deconstruction of the myth, as for examplethe white stag is a piece of innocent fantasy. But on the other hand,it has the most credible dwarfs ever, a really mean bunch at thebeginning, and also the Evil Queen has had a tragic past that causedher to use magic, usually the villains in fantasy movies just use magicbecause that's what villains do, but here is definitely more to it. Nota perfect movie, but a good movie, not suitable for younger childrendue to violence, though.

jrparz

(2013-05-10 20:03:23)

Snow White and the Huntsman - Pure Magic!

My review is riddled with SPOILERS, so you are warned now. I have seen Snow White and the Huntsman three times and found myselfenjoying it more and more each time. In fact, I'll probably watch it acouple more times before I finally wait till the Blueray hits thestores.The acting is solid, and most especially from Kristen Stewart and ChrisHemsworth. If you truly understand their characters, and their ownindividual plight and what they've already gone through, then you willfind that their teaming was a match made in heaven. In fact, althoughsubtle, their characters had real chemistry.Top Three Powerful Scenes:1) The Huntsman's goodbye to Snow White was extremely powerful and verybelievable. Those tears were real my friends, and did you notice whenhe leaned down to kiss Snow White that one of his tear fell onto hercheek, and then dripped slowly down Snow White's beautiful face… andbut a second later, a tear formed at the corner of Snow White's eyes,and then another followed the same trail the huntsman's tear took. Thatscene was executed perfectly. 2) The delivery of Snow White's speech was perfect; coming from a girlthat was stuck inside a prison all her life. Anything more powerfulwould not have been believable, for Snowy truly struck the right chord.3) Snow White's final scene with the Queen when she said, "You can'thave my heart." Those words, said with tears, meant so much. Charlizewas awesome in this scene as well.The Pros: The special effects that turned those legendary Englishactors into dwarfs blew me away; the Cinematography; the performances;and climactic ending. The Con: I'm pretty sure the Queen had more to say in this film thanSnow White, the Huntsman, and the duke's son put together. I didn't seethis taking away from the film per say, but in hindsight, I did seesome scenes where they could have thrown some dialog in.All and all, Snow White and the Huntsman is a great film. I give it a 9out of 10 and the only reason it doesn't get a perfect score is becauseI felt the film should have spent more time in that "Sanctuary"setting. I understand Snow White represented life itself, but theycould have explained a bit more and plus it would have meant Kristenbeing in that magical setting for a longer period time... and let'sface it, Kristen Stewart epitomizes the beauty she was surrounded with.