Snow White and the Huntsman

Great fragments, but a dramatic structure very blown away (hi ho, hi ho, we come to XY, we enjoy ourselves and then they attack us), no explicitly breathtaking moment, very solid craftsmanship, but affected by the effort to sell everything to all available senses at once. For me, it lacks a bit of finesse and stronger mythology, which would combine all the much dispersed influences - for example, when the dwarves sing an "Irish folk song" and Snow White prays to God, I do not know where I actually was. Some mandatory "mighty bloody battle" phrases strongly reside here (I would cut off hands for Snow White's monologue before the final battle). On the other hand, from an acting point of view, it is absolutely excellent, and if there is something that really excites beyond sensory intoxication, then it’s the well-chosen representatives of key roles (perhaps only Kristen gets a big life lesson from the predatory milf Charlize). Sanders certainly has a knack for playing with the viewer - I'm quite curious how his broadly targeted fantasy product will fare. Overall, I fluctuate between amused distance and enthusiasm - especially where this dirty girl dares to be really dirty and more daring than the polished genre competition. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm did not come despite a few good flashes. P.S. When The Witcher is filmed in Hollywood, Chris Hemsworth should be given the role of Geralt. The guy has style... (05/23/2012)

Exactly on the border between darker fairy tale and cautious fantasy, but personally I was hoping for something a bit higher. The situation must occasionally be explicitly saved by the beautiful Kristen and the warrior Hemsworth, for whom the roles of unruly and vulnerable heroes will be a career destiny. Howard (and Florence+The Machine) fantastically reign in the soundtrack, fantastic creatures appear cautiously in regular doses, and passages like walks through the enchanted fairy forest can take your breath away for minutes in advance, so what's the problem? For me, it's clearly with the queen. Charlize and her evil queen simply didn't convince me with her performance and portrayal of the character throughout the two hours, whether she was bathing in milk or menacingly threatening whomever she wanted, I just nervously fidgeted and waited for any kind of change. Sanders sympathetically changes notoriously known plot moments (although he doesn't fully execute that crucial and most anticipated change until the end), but in the very end, the overall impression remains too hesitant. (09/09/2012)

I was looking forward to Snow White and the Huntsman. I am always looking forward to a fantasy. And it’s even more pleasant when I see it’s the director’s first proper movie. Hats off for the imagination of the Snow White’s world. I really liked that. Even though it was narrated well, the story was a routine one. In fact, the whole movie is really obvious and if you know the original story and can imagine it in the form of a narrative fantasy story like Lord of the Rings, the result will look like this movie. Kirsten Stewart could finally stop staring open-mouthed at everyone around her, but that was about the only flaw I could find with the actors. They performed their best and that is a good thing. Next time it would be better with less digital effects. The two castles could definitely have been made less monumental and more real to give the fantasy movie the realistic feel it deserves. At least in that respect. (04/25/2013)

A mirror with no taste (Kristen more beautiful than Charlize; how could the screenwriters think that somebody would believe such nonsense?), visually well done, solid tempo, a lot of action, wasted dwarfs (such a cast and then they just get one proper scene), a couple of necrophilic kisses, one lesbian kiss and no kiss out of true love… And that is maybe the biggest (and not by far the only) mistake; you can feel the lack of feeling here and that was, is and always will be an crucial problem in a fairytale. Despite all its likability, it’s simply cold and that’s a shame, because otherwise for this Snow White – a successor of the fantasy genre so popular and wide-spread mainly in the 80’s, I would have had only words of praise. (06/04/2012)

At the beginning I was surprised at how much I was enjoying it (I wasn’t expecting anything from it), but as the minutes went by, the enthusiasm waned and I ended at around 4/10. Nice visuals and a demonic Charlize aren’t enough to carry 127 minutes with a stupid script, a wooden Snow White and an unremarkable prince. (09/05/2012)