Snow White and the Huntsman
Director: Rupert Sanders
Year Released: 2012
Rating: 2.0
Snow White meets ... Lord of the Rings? Gaudy, overblown 'fantasy' involves the youth-obsessed shrew Ravenna (Charlize Theron) out to get "pure" Snow White (Kristen Stewart) by sending the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) after her; soon Snowy and the Hunter team up with a bunch of dwarves to reclaim the kingdom. Aside from the modernist rethinking of the story - and I'll admit some of the CGI is very good - I can't see how the grittiness and moody lighting and sword fights improve on the classic Disney tale aside from the fact that they make this look more like Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's stories. Sanders and his screenwriters (working off of Evan Daugherty's short story) neuter the subtext of the original tale (Theron - in disguise as a young male - kisses Stewart's character) and Stewart is downright laughable as a proto Joan of Arc figure ... but at least she's not nervously touching her hair so much.
