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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 11/26/2012 : 17:54:04
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No, honestly, trust me, you don't need this in your life.
I mean what's the point of a fairy-tale re-tell? Iconic, filled with the mysteries of the mis-chartered land between fantasy and reality - fairy-tales have a lot to impart as they draw us in.
We hone our abilities to suspend disbelief. We follow seemingly simple stories that turn out to baffle even top psychiatrists. We delve into the dreamland of both our cheeriest and scariest nightmares.
Can it be achieved on film? Well, of course! One of the best examples being Neil Jordan's version of Angela Carter's Little Red Riding Hood story, Company of Wolves.
Has it worked here? Has it fuck!
No surprise that 1st time director Rupert Sanders learned about dollies, etc on a prolific commercials output. The screenplay carries four sets of fingerprints. I don't know if that's why the film feels like the narrative never quite matches up.
There's just no reason for it to be so complex. And yet, any presentation of complexity just serves to point up the flaws in what should be an easy to follow journey.
Nor am I convinced by most of the acting. Especially disappointing is Charlize Theron as the beautiful queen whose eternally youthful looks are the result of her vampire-like diet. She not only retains her youth, but she's got powers. Oh, yes, no-one's safe any more from those damned powers!
But it's when Charlize is confronted by scenes of depth and rage that she resorts to volume. Nope - louder is not an acting technique. I suspect she knows that, but Sanders has left her writhing about her own Dark Forest instead of guiding her to a frightening place that we ought to be afraid to watch in case she might reach out to pluck us from our movie seats and toss us into HELL!!!!
As for Kristen Stewart, who knows a thing or two about vampires by now - she gets by as the innocent heroine by ... well, by doing nothing. I mean nothing internal. Even as she leaps into actiony-action, and/or recovers from its consequences - well, she just projects the lifeless sands of her acting desert.
On the surface the film seems to tick lotsa boxes - meaty roles for women and no easy outs of men rescuing them when danger lurks, etc
And there are a few good screen performances - mostly the dwarfs, who turn out to be some of the finest contemporary actors around.
But still, the best bits are the fx - some of which are truly amazing. And, just as it's nearly impossible to care about the characters in adverts, no one in this film tugs any inch of your heart. [except, mebbe, those fantasticals who want to eat it!!]
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Snow White and the Huntsman
