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~~MicShazam~~ · 02-19-2018, 01:44 PM

Snow White and the Huntsman
2012/Rupert Sanders
4/5

This Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron starring fairy tale inspired fantasy film didn't really gain much traction back when it came out in theaters. Audiences didn't go wild for it and the critics had mostly shrugs to give.

My take on this film is going to be mostly positive, so I'm positioning myself as a minority opinion on this one. That might actually become my M.O. for most movie opinions in this journal, as it's arguably a bit more interesting than a simple "me too" proclamation.

In my opinion, Snow White and the Huntsman is one of the better block busters of the 2000's and 2010's.I find that it posesses a few qualities rarely exhibited by modern bluck buster movies of similar fantasy/sci-fi/action/superhero/melodrama ilk.

Firstly, this film has a sense of cinematic vibrancy and visual poetry rarely seen in any big budget flick. There's a sequence early on in the film that demonstrates this. Charlize Theron, as a villanous throne usurping witch queen, kills off the king of a prospering realm. We see her sit atop him in their wedding night bed, her long golden hair and white dress flowing to the sides over the king and the bed. He goes into cramps from a poison and she draws out a large ceremonial blade, holding it high above her head, then to ram it into his chest. Beforehand, she whispers into his ear of her disdain for men and her intent to rule as a lone queen. The blade gains not so little of a phallic edge as she reverses the power dynamic and violently takes his place. A quick cut shows a chalize of red wine being toppled over by the kings hand, the violent splash of red liquid when it hits ground mirroring the act of bloody mayhem taking place.
Then, we see the queen outside in the castle courtyard by the gate, torchlight dancing across her face as the porticulis opens and her troops enter the castle, mutiny complete.
Words don't really do it justice. It's a moment of what you might call real filmmaking, i.e. what a director with an actual eye for cinema might do. This is not rarely seen in this film, but it is in blockbusters in general.

I also love how materials are made to look tactile and present. When Kristen Stewart's Snow White has escaped the Queen's captivity into a dark, foreboding forest, succumbing to the imaginative, psychic manipulations of a place of dark magic (clam shells leak a tar like substance, pitch black mushrooms spew clouds of noxious spore, black beetles scutter across the ground - it's trippy and genuinely creepy), she rolls around in the dirt and you almost feel dirty yourself. The environments and elements are made to feel present, while in most similar films, you feel distanced from the clinical world presented on-screen.
A few scenes in the middle of the film even manage to evoke genuine awe for the natural world. You might say that a few shots are downright gorgeous. In short, this movie is cinematic.

Dramatically the film also does quite well. One major irritation in block buster movies has been how they tend to not let any emotions stick around for more than a few seconds, before we simply get a scene change or a cheap joke to defuse the situation or to simply hurry along (because who really has time for real Cinema anyway?).
Not so in this film. At one point, a companion dies. A Disney/Marvel movie would have hurried along a mere 60 seconds later, but in Snow White and the Huntsman, this character dies a death that feels like it has some gravity.
Then, instead of cutting to the next item on the plot-itinerary, the film shows us a quiet, understated funeral scene, where a song imperfectly sung by one of the surviving allies fades over into a soundtrack version of same, which then plays over long distance landscape shot of our heroes carrying on with their quest in pouring rain. Two characters stop, exchange a line and the song resumes as the camera trails along the hills. It's the kind of visual expression of emotion that you simply won't see in the majority of other, much better reviewed Big Entertainment flicks.

Without going into details with the story, I can say that the film manages to maintain a high standard without many missteps. The use of the mirror ("mirror, mirror on the wall") is presented as a rather lame special effect that any number of movies would have handled better. There are precicely 2 unecessary CG beast fights in the movie where someone on the team should have shown better judgment. A few CG fairies also don't look too great. There's a once recurring feces joke on which your mileage might also vary.
Theron's villain is threatening without being simplistic in her motivations and Sam Spruell is effective as a needy and cruel henchman/brother to the queen.

The final act is where the film disappoints slightly, but before things go out of hand with jokes and battles, Kristen Stewart/Snow White has her final confrontation with the queen and this part of the movie plays out more interestingly and satisfyingly than any other final showdown I can remember in similar films from the same time. The pathetic, scared, backwards crawling retreat of the mortally wounded queen feels like a classic moment in a not-quite-classic film.

The coda to the movie is also a little uninteresting, but it's over fast. It's not much more than a "and they lived happily ever after", which I guess is appropriate, considering the inspirations for the film.

There's a lot more that I could talk about, but I choose not to go into act-by-act detail. Basically, I think it's a solid, but imperfect movie. There's not a lot of beautiful, visual film making in the block buster game and I think this movie deserved better than it got from both critics and audiences.

NOTE: I originally intended to write about the sequel, Huntsman: Winter's War as well. In fact, having bought that movie on DVD was the real reason I went back and re-watched Snow White and the Huntsman. I won't bother going into detail about that sequel (/prequel) film as it turned out to be a complete disaster. It's handled by a different, vastly less talented director, has a craptacular story, an uninspired soundtrack (agh! I didn't even get to mention the soundtrack of Snow White! It was good, trust me) and some of the most lame and uninspired visuals you'll see in a modern multi-million block buster. It's the evil twin of the original movie. Avoid it like the plague.

(spell checking: none yet... bear with me.)

02-19-2018, 01:44 PM	#26 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Snow White and the Huntsman 2012/Rupert Sanders 4/5 This Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron starring fairy tale inspired fantasy film didn't really gain much traction back when it came out in theaters. Audiences didn't go wild for it and the critics had mostly shrugs to give. My take on this film is going to be mostly positive, so I'm positioning myself as a minority opinion on this one. That might actually become my M.O. for most movie opinions in this journal, as it's arguably a bit more interesting than a simple "me too" proclamation. In my opinion, Snow White and the Huntsman is one of the better block busters of the 2000's and 2010's.I find that it posesses a few qualities rarely exhibited by modern bluck buster movies of similar fantasy/sci-fi/action/superhero/melodrama ilk. Firstly, this film has a sense of cinematic vibrancy and visual poetry rarely seen in any big budget flick. There's a sequence early on in the film that demonstrates this. Charlize Theron, as a villanous throne usurping witch queen, kills off the king of a prospering realm. We see her sit atop him in their wedding night bed, her long golden hair and white dress flowing to the sides over the king and the bed. He goes into cramps from a poison and she draws out a large ceremonial blade, holding it high above her head, then to ram it into his chest. Beforehand, she whispers into his ear of her disdain for men and her intent to rule as a lone queen. The blade gains not so little of a phallic edge as she reverses the power dynamic and violently takes his place. A quick cut shows a chalize of red wine being toppled over by the kings hand, the violent splash of red liquid when it hits ground mirroring the act of bloody mayhem taking place. Then, we see the queen outside in the castle courtyard by the gate, torchlight dancing across her face as the porticulis opens and her troops enter the castle, mutiny complete. Words don't really do it justice. It's a moment of what you might call real filmmaking, i.e. what a director with an actual eye for cinema might do. This is not rarely seen in this film, but it is in blockbusters in general. I also love how materials are made to look tactile and present. When Kristen Stewart's Snow White has escaped the Queen's captivity into a dark, foreboding forest, succumbing to the imaginative, psychic manipulations of a place of dark magic (clam shells leak a tar like substance, pitch black mushrooms spew clouds of noxious spore, black beetles scutter across the ground - it's trippy and genuinely creepy), she rolls around in the dirt and you almost feel dirty yourself. The environments and elements are made to feel present, while in most similar films, you feel distanced from the clinical world presented on-screen. A few scenes in the middle of the film even manage to evoke genuine awe for the natural world. You might say that a few shots are downright gorgeous. In short, this movie is cinematic. Dramatically the film also does quite well. One major irritation in block buster movies has been how they tend to not let any emotions stick around for more than a few seconds, before we simply get a scene change or a cheap joke to defuse the situation or to simply hurry along (because who really has time for real Cinema anyway?). Not so in this film. At one point, a companion dies. A Disney/Marvel movie would have hurried along a mere 60 seconds later, but in Snow White and the Huntsman, this character dies a death that feels like it has some gravity. Then, instead of cutting to the next item on the plot-itinerary, the film shows us a quiet, understated funeral scene, where a song imperfectly sung by one of the surviving allies fades over into a soundtrack version of same, which then plays over long distance landscape shot of our heroes carrying on with their quest in pouring rain. Two characters stop, exchange a line and the song resumes as the camera trails along the hills. It's the kind of visual expression of emotion that you simply won't see in the majority of other, much better reviewed Big Entertainment flicks. Without going into details with the story, I can say that the film manages to maintain a high standard without many missteps. The use of the mirror ("mirror, mirror on the wall") is presented as a rather lame special effect that any number of movies would have handled better. There are precicely 2 unecessary CG beast fights in the movie where someone on the team should have shown better judgment. A few CG fairies also don't look too great. There's a once recurring feces joke on which your mileage might also vary. Theron's villain is threatening without being simplistic in her motivations and Sam Spruell is effective as a needy and cruel henchman/brother to the queen. The final act is where the film disappoints slightly, but before things go out of hand with jokes and battles, Kristen Stewart/Snow White has her final confrontation with the queen and this part of the movie plays out more interestingly and satisfyingly than any other final showdown I can remember in similar films from the same time. The pathetic, scared, backwards crawling retreat of the mortally wounded queen feels like a classic moment in a not-quite-classic film. The coda to the movie is also a little uninteresting, but it's over fast. It's not much more than a "and they lived happily ever after", which I guess is appropriate, considering the inspirations for the film. There's a lot more that I could talk about, but I choose not to go into act-by-act detail. Basically, I think it's a solid, but imperfect movie. There's not a lot of beautiful, visual film making in the block buster game and I think this movie deserved better than it got from both critics and audiences. NOTE: I originally intended to write about the sequel, Huntsman: Winter's War as well. In fact, having bought that movie on DVD was the real reason I went back and re-watched Snow White and the Huntsman. I won't bother going into detail about that sequel (/prequel) film as it turned out to be a complete disaster. It's handled by a different, vastly less talented director, has a craptacular story, an uninspired soundtrack (agh! I didn't even get to mention the soundtrack of Snow White! It was good, trust me) and some of the most lame and uninspired visuals you'll see in a modern multi-million block buster. It's the evil twin of the original movie. Avoid it like the plague. (spell checking: none yet... bear with me.) Last edited by MicShazam; 02-19-2018 at 02:29 PM.