Directed By Marc Webb

Starring – Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap

The Plot – A grieving princess (Zegler) joins forces with seven dwarfs to liberate her kingdom from her cruel stepmother (Gadot) the Evil Queen. A live-action adaptation of the 1937 Disney animated film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.

Rated PG for violence, some peril, thematic elements and brief rude humor.

Disney’s Snow White | Official Trailer | In Theaters March 21

POSITIVES

Perhaps my unpopular opinion about the 1937 original being overrated allowed me to see and appreciate newfound additions to this remake, but I didn’t find it nearly the trainwreck catastrophe that was critically advertised, especially with its three years of production and reception problems that have kept it from finally seeing the light of day. Most notably, this remake is twenty minutes longer than its predecessor, and with more expansion on the backstories of these characters, as well as some refreshingly original directions that takes the story to more unpredictable waters, it makes the most of its ample allowance, which ultimately keeps it from feeling like another shot for shot Disney live action remake that is simply trying to capitalize on a proven name. Considering the original feels abruptly rushed in not only its initial set-ups, but also the love story that should serve as the most vital aspect of the story, the time and creativity given here to those respective arcs allows it to attain the necessary focus to manufacture a pulse within the depth of the narrative, with scenes and sequences far better paced than those of the original, which lingered seemingly unknowingly. In addition to this, Webb’s unmistakable influence can be felt in the visual impulses of the film’s presentation, primarily in the departments of set decoration, wardrobe and overall pageantry of these musical sequences, which each transpire an exuberance of color that radiates glowingly on the biggest screens imaginable. Considering the film is working off of the fantastical imagination of an animated original, it’s all the more impressive how Webb and his production are able to seamlessly bring to life the beauty and magical essence of a movie nearly ninety years its senior, and while the film’s production is plagued by artificial elements that I will discuss later, the most memorable intents towards the movie are those aspects towards established setting and character appearances that appear as boldly detailed and luminous as one can wish, proving that the right kind of effort went into the experience, in ways that make this feel like the most passionately elaborate of stage shows. As for the performances, they are a bit of a mixed bag, but I can pleasantly put to rest any notion that Rachel Zegler wasn’t right for this part, as she vividly articulates all of the spunky charms and charismatic innocence of one of Disney’s first princess’. In Zegler, the movie has a commanding force that can not only pull off those epic musical numbers, but also someone who effortlessly conjures the warmth and tenderness that the role demands, and though some of her intuitive responses to character interactions are distractingly animated in ways that I can only compare to Chris Klein auditioning for “Mamma Mia” (Watch her constantly flaring nostrils during close-up angles), I appreciate the energy and commitment that she gave to character, especially in utilizing a braver and more resilient side of the character than we ever experienced throughout the original movie.

NEGATIVES

All pleasantries aside, “Snow White” still carries with it an abundance of issues that makes the film feel like it is constantly at odds with itself, particularly in the clunky and chaotic mess of its screenplay, which evidently attempts to make a final cut edit out of two films with polarly opposite ideas of creativity. This is felt the most around the film’s midway point, where Snow White drifts away from the Seven Dwarfs, and moves on to these Seven rebels who couldn’t be any more forgettable. I say that because the script not only gives them so little to do throughout the film’s duration, but essentially makes them pointless considering the film never resolves the initialized mystery of someone from Snow White’s family being alive or dead, and though they occasionally pop up to make their presence felt to even the odds against overwhelming adversity, you could basically omit them from the movie’s finished product, and you would lose absolutely nothing because of it. If anything, the dwarfs, outside of maybe Dopey, are the biggest fatalities with this contemporary rendering, as not only are a few of their memorable scenes from the original movie hemmed down or all-together sacrificed, this time around, but their C.G designs emit a glaringly distracting and uncanny consistency to the world surrounding them, and it just makes me wish that the production had went along with real actors for the roles, instead of smothering such beautiful aforementioned production values with overwhelming artificiality. Speaking of artificiality, the film also falls suspect to some obvious green-screen backdrops that makes the lighting and human characters stand out in the most compromising of ways, particularly one scene involving Snow and Jonathan growing closer before their geographical distancing. In these moments, there’s a shine off of the skin of these co-stars that breeds off-screen influence, and when combined with the tangibility of a planted ground for which they stand on, and everything else in the background feeling untouchable, it proves some shortcuts were taken towards recreating this world, and they stand out in the most demeaning and obvious of ways that continuously pulled me out of focus each time. Then there’s the songs, which find their own levels of annoyance to the proceeding, in ways that cleverly fall into one of two categories. The first are songs from the original movie, which are now remixed to include more lyrics for further context. This sound admirable enough, but the contextual layering lyrically is simply only further echoing everything that we learned about the previous interaction, instead of forwarding the storytelling, and while I appreciate trying to give these time-honored tracks some meaningful merit, I wish that they would’ve just left them alone, in order to tickle the nostalgic nourishment of those audiences wanting to experience them once more. The second category are new tracks from “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman” co-composers, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with nothing even close to anything lyrically infectious or musically triumphant to even come close to the magic of those two predecessors. The worst of these is undoubtedly Gadot’s “All is Fair”, a track that she admirably sings herself, but one that pummeled and punished my ears with the kind of climatic shrieking during high notes that proves the credible actress should definitely stick to her day job. This isn’t meant to be a beatdown of Gadot’s range, but rather a lead-in to her devastating turn as the wicked stepmother, which is simply just a meaningless title for the motions that Gadot is continuously going through. While Gadot is a breathtaking physical specimen who brings to life the mesmerizing means of her seductive powers, it’s the evilness of her design that I had a difficult time buying, with nothing in the way of the menace or imposition that made the queen such a dangerous force to be reckoned with, instead of the jealous narcissist that Gadot embodies here, which is serviceable enough if you don’t remember what Angelina Jolie was able to do with “Maleficient”. Finally, I was left a bit confused by the iconic apple scene taking place with still around twenty-five minutes left in the movie, and that’s because there is a newly tacked-on ending that did little to resolve my confusion, especially with a watered down resolution meant to keep childlike audiences from feeling disturbed in the slightest. Regardless of how I feel about the original movie, the ending is unforgettable, and though a confrontation comes between Snow White and her stepmother, it’s resolved so abruptly that I can’t exactly put into words what happened, leaving the most memorable scene on the cutting room floor as one of the many things that this movie considered outdated or unnecessary.

OVERALL
“Snow White” does a lot to capture the radiant essence and infectious charm of its animated original, particularly in the breathtaking production values of Marc Webb’s imaginatively expressive direction, but like most Disney live action remakes, lacks a soulful foundation to its cause that continuously reminds audiences of the better movie that they should be watching. Despite a warmly tender performance from Rachel Zegler that always rises to the occasion, the surrounding film tragically undercuts her efforts in ways that can be felt with flat musical numbers, an underwhelming co-star, and two vastly different directions fighting for focus, leaving audience expectations dwarfed by Disney’s demand to recreate a past that they no longer feel comfortable exploring.

My Grade: 5.9 or D+