Snow White
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot
Director: Marc Webb
Rating: ★★
There are times in Marc Webb's live-action adaptation of Snow White where the frames jump to life. It is usually during the titular princess' escapades in the forest, lit beautifully by CGI lighting, or when the seven dwarfs are being all merry, or when the forest animals exude their cuteness for kids to fawn over. To sum it up, the best part of this live-action film is all CGI and VFX. That should set alarm bells ringing in the Disney office because years and decades ago, what made their animation click was the human touch. How they have managed to make live-action adaptations of warm stories starring living, breathing humans and not an ounce of humanity is beyond me. (Also read: Snow White first reviews: Some relief for Disney as film gets positive reactions after years of controversies)
The premise
Snow White is a modern-day interpretation of the Grimm Brothers' fairytale and a 21st-century take on the Disney animated classic. Rachel Zegler is the princess locked in the castle by the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot). But this one, the feminist icon she aspires to be, is not looking for a knight in shining armour. She wants to fight alongside her subjects to restore her kingdom's former glory. Aiding her is not a prince but a bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) and the adorable dwarfs themselves.
Snow White is the OG Disney princess. Her story has been told time and again (including a recent gritty remake starring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth). There are few surprises there. Disney manages to retain the visual delight of the fairy tale, making everything seem beautiful, colourful, and bright. Even in the more dreary (and the odd scary) scenes of the film, the cinematography and VFX are top-notch. Yet, the film appears to be lacking a soul.
What works
Snow White gets a few things right. It makes the story more contemporary and less archaic. The princess is no longer a hapless damsel who must always be saved. She says so herself in one of her banterful songs with Jonathan. Her romantic interest is a righteous bandit/freedom fighter, not a prince. The class barriers seem broken a little there. And thankfully, the Evil Queen remains evil. She is not given the Maleficient treatment to turn the story into some layered thesis on the levels of evil.
But it gets a lot wrong, too. The story remains on the surface. None of the characters' pain, anger, hurt, or love touches you in any way. It is all academic, like a concept in the air. But it fails to connect. That means you are hardly ever invested in Snow White's love for her kingdom and the people. Maybe it's the brevity of the time run, but the film fails to establish the characters' motives and their emotions. It hurries through the set-up to begin telling us the adventure that lies ahead.
About the performances
Rachel Zegler looks very much like the Snow White Disney has envisioned for the 21st century, one where beauty need not just be on the surface but comes from within. But she has such a limited acting range in the film that it does nothing to make her likeable or lovable. Her emotional limitations make her a liability in some of the more heavy-duty scenes. Gal Gadot, on the other hand, is fabulous as the Evil Queen, bringing an unseen over-the-top charm into the character's menacing designs. Her accent and innate likability do threaten to break the facade every once in a while, but she manages to hold on to her own. But like Zegler, her limited range is a hurdle in the storytelling.
Snow White manages to entertain without engaging, which is its biggest fault. It is a popcorn fare that becomes so forgettable the moment you step out of the theatre that you are straining to remember the best moments (there aren't many). It's a film for the Instagram and TikTok generation, one that can be scrolled and forgotten.