“Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?”
“My queen, your beauty is beyond compare, but there is one — her beauty grows — from deep within … Snow White. She is as pure as snow.”
Controversy up front, and this film has had it share of it, starting with the casting of titular character. The casting of Rachel Zegler, a Latina actress, as Snow White, drew criticism, as the character is described in the original material as having skin “as white as snow”. This is actually not that uncommon for a Disney live-action. I would even dare to call it commonplace. And while I don’t agree with it personally and actually like the idea of these stories evolving and that they are “open to all ethnic groups”, I’m just saying that I am not surprised at this criticism. We saw the same thing with the live-action Little Mermaid. What makes this situation different is that Zegler went on offense. She responded to the comments in January 2022, saying that Snow White is popular in Spanish-speaking countries, and having a Latina in such a role is rare, so she was proud to be cast. Where things take a turn for the actress is with her comments about the 1937 version of the film. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this because it is not why you are reading this review, but needless to say, it drew controversy, and it wouldn’t surprise me if that controversy affected people’s attendance, and by association, the film’s reception. I’m here to tell you that it would be a mistake.
Let me be clear; there was no bigger skeptic about this film than I. My main reason for even agreeing to see it was because it was a movie my wife really wanted to see. I merely intended to endure it. I say that to say to give a baseline of how difficult it would be for this film to win me over; something I didn’t expect it to do. And yet it did. It does that by reimagining the original story. Now I know that it is a risky game, and it has the potential to upset diehards, but the truth of the matter is the story needed some reimagining. In the original film, Snow White meets and falls in love with a prince who overhears her singing. That same day, Magic Mirror deems Snow White as the fairest. In this reimagining, Snow White becoming the fairest had more to do with the strength of her own character than any person. In my opinion it is a much more powerful message that is still true to the moral of Snow White: beauty comes from within.
According to Zegler, the origin of Snow White’s name in this movie “falls back to another version of ‘Snow White’ that was told in history, where she survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby. And so the king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience. One of the core points in the film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.”
I was intrigued by that concept, though admittedly it takes a while for it come to fruition in the movie, as the beginning of the film takes some time to gain traction. It isn’t really until the events involving Andrew Burnap’s Jonathan that things starting to get interesting, when Snow White makes her first rebellious act against the Queen. I credit Zegler’s and Burnap’s chemistry for breathing life into the story. Prior to their interaction, things were unfolding in a very matter-of-fact manner, which was a bit boring. Burnap’s appearance and his casual nonchalance brought wit and humor to the story. Their dynamic brought the best out of both their characters. For Snow White, Jonathan made her realize that she could no longer stand idly by. And for Jonathan, Snow White made him stop hiding behind a veil of cynicism about humanity and rediscover the importance of a righteous cause.
Now let’s talk Gal Gadot, our Evil Queen, who if we are being perfectly honest, was kind of tame. Granted, this is a Disney film, and I’m sure there were limitations on how dark she was allowed to go, but I just wish she was allowed to push the envelope a little more. She barely got her hands dirty, outside of the poison apple scene. In all honesty, I think the film could have used more Gal Gadot, because her appearances are very sparse in the film. We needed more scenes showcasing the Queen’s ruthlessness. Must of her scenes were dedicated to how vain she was. It would have been good to show her cruelty as well. For the most part, I would really consider her to be a Vain Queen or an Indifferent Queen rather than a Evil Queen. I do not fault Gadot for this, because I have faith that she has it in her to play a villain. She just hasn’t been given the right opportunity to do so. Red Notice showed she could convincingly portray arrogance, and I think the role this role could have benefited from more of that.
Where the film really delivers is with the music, including several original compositions courtesy of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul of La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and the Tony-award-winning Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen. This has been a key area for these live-action versions: original music that helps elevate the story, such as “Speechless” in Aladdin or “Loyal Brave True” in Mulan. These songs are the breakout moments for live-actions and elevate the characters, and this film is no exception. Here is “Princess Problems” and “Waiting on a Wish,” the latter acting as a rally cry and assembling ballad resonant of The Last Showman’s “This is Me.”
It wouldn’t be a Snow White story if we didn’t talk about the seven dwarfs, which wasn’t without its controversy either. Following comments suggesting the live-action film was a backward story from an renowned actor, who has a form of dwarfism and has played dwarfish characters in his career, Disney stated that “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, they were taking a different approach with these seven characters. This resulted in reimagining for the film, consisting of one actor with dwarfism along with six other non-dwarf actors of varying ethnicity and gender, who were originally all portrayed as supernatural beings from German folklore, not actual human beings. The decision to reimagine the characters as such was criticized by mainstream and social media sources as being overly politically correct, as well as potentially taking away acting opportunities from the dwarfism community. As a result, Disney scrapped that plan and went with a CGI alternative.” Having seen final product, I can say with absolute confidence that Disney made the right call sticking with the dwarfs. I am in favor of inclusivity and diversity; however, sometimes it is good to be a bit traditional.
In summation, I had zero intention of actually liking this adaptation, and it won me over with its creativity and originality. I believe given the proper chance it can do the same for many people on the fence about seeing it. And to them I say, leave the politics out of it, and just enjoy a good, wholesome, family-friendly experience and phenomenal original music.
