Snow White and the Huntsman DVD Review

Fairy tales are the new black

Snow White and the Huntsman is a movie dragging a lot of baggage behind it as it comes to DVD.  Star/Director infidelities aside (you have to wonder if it some of the Twilight fan girls will stay away), there have already been (refuted) rumours that the franchise will go on as a spin off with Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman character.

This revisionist look at the Snow White tale sees the King murdered by his wife Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and Kristen Stewart’s beautiful Princess is exiled by her evil stepmother.  With the help of the Huntsman (Hemsworth) and some hardy dwarves, Stewart plots to claim her rightful place as Queen.

So far, so bedtime story.  The visuals in Snow White are impressive, giving a depth to the fairy tale of our youth. The Black Forrest to which Snow White flees is particularly disturbing; it’s twisted, gnarled branches holding no end of terrors.    Charlize Theron clearly loves the evil bitch role she’s been given and walks away with the film.  By turns menacing and pitiable – trying desperately to cling to her last vestiges of youth.

In a film crowded with too many extraneous characters (why are there eight dwarves?) it is Stewart’s Princess that is the most difficult to get a handle on.  There’s no sense of struggle or journey between delicate flower and warrior princess, both of which she plays solidly.  She simply switches from one to the other in a blink of an eye.

Hemsworth, as always, is ruggedly dependable, swinging his hammer…sorry…axe, like a pro and if the rumours are true then a Huntsman spin off would not be unwelcome.

Luckily the dwarves lighten the mood.  Nick Frost, Toby Jones, Ray Winstone and Ian McShane are not the hardworking dwarves of our childhood but more likely to be found down the pub.

It’s easy to overlook that this is Sander’s feature debut.  A skilled commercials director before his leap to the longer format he accounts himself well and shows an eye for the visual stylistics we’re coming to expect in modern, CGI driven films.

★★★

12 |  1st October 2012 (UK) |Dir: Rupert Sanders |  Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth , Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Bob Hoskins / Buy Snow White And The Huntsman:Blu-ray( + Digital Copy + UV Copy) / DVD