Technical Assessment: 4
Moral Assessment: 3
Cinema rating: For viewers 14 years old and above
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN / TRT
/ june 12
The diabolical Queen Ravenna
(Charlize Theron) becomes the second wife of the King and father of Snow White (Kristen
Stewart). On their wedding night, the
Queen kills the King and locks the child Snow White in a room in the
castle. Living in terror of losing her
beauty, the Queen in time is told by her magic mirror that Snow White has grown
up and will soon outshine her in beauty; meanwhile Snow White escapes to the
Dark Forest. The Queen recruits Eric the
Huntsman (Chris Helmsworth), the only one known to have survived the Dark Forest,
to capture Snow White. Threatened with
death should he refuse to follow his order, the Huntsman finds Snow White, and upon
learning that the Queen has tricked him, begins training Snow White for the
arduous battle ahead. Later on they are
joined by the dwarfs (Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins,
Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, and Stephen Graham) to restore the land taken over by
the dark-hearted queen.
It’s an enchanted realm that Snow White and the Huntsman ushers us
to, thanks to the magic of CGI. Rupert
Sanders, its director, has a knack for establishing memorable places, perhaps
owing to his background in TV commercials.
Here, two places stand out in contrast to each other: the Dark Forest where
Snow White seeks refuge is creepy and menacing, a place where apparently
nothing lives but where tree branches morph into serpents and a monstrous troll
seems to materialize from the bones of dead trees. The Fairyland where the dwarfs hide Snow
White and the Huntsman is an awesome wonderland where hundreds of one-eyed
mushrooms regard the human visitors while pale-skinned naked sprites pop up here and there to guide them. Whether it’s black magic or white, every
scene calling for the supernatural is a triumph of art direction. And there’s acting to match. Theron is especially effective as a wicked
witch-queen, flawless and radiant—even when 90 percent of her part is screaming
and glaring. Stewart is plucky enough
for the part, and her most shining moment is her stare-down with the giant troll
which she faces unarmed in order to save a fallen companion.
In Snow White and the Huntsman, there is betrayal, wickedness, deception,
vanity and greed in the movie (not to mention implied incest) but there is also
nobility of spirit, bravery, trust, innocence, and self-sacrificing love of
others. Outstanding is the mention of
innocence and purity of heart as the only thing that can vanquish evil: here it
means recapturing the glory of the dying kingdom; taken to the personal level
it could mean turning away from error in order to enter a paradise on
earth. Adults will have no problem with
the movie’s dark side, but children might have nightmares from the violence, and
young teens might be misled by all that chicanery and spell-casting lurking
beneath veneered exteriors.
