Saturday, June 16, 2012

Snow White & The Huntsman - Movie Review By Kristie Haigwood

Lips, red as blood. Hair black as night. Bring me your heart my dear, dear Snow White....

Movie review By

Kristie Drennin Haigwood

Author of "Save My Soul" & her soon to be released "Forbidden Touch"

 Justice for this classic? I think so.

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*

I really wanted to give Snow White and the Huntsman 5 stars. There were a few things that kept me from it. There were a couple different scenes that I felt were unfinished, as if more should have been added to them, or that there were missing scenes altogether. 

The effects are spectacular, truly mesmerizing at times. The costumes were immaculate and I could tell they were very well thought out. The battle scenes lacked... well, a lot. Most of them seemed to be too brief, and a few appeared to lack common sense. 

I had hoped that Kristen Stewart (Snow White) would have done a better job of playing her part. "Skin white as snow, lips red as roses, hair black as a raven's wing..." While very pretty, and having no problem looking the part of Snow, Stewart seems lazy or overconfident in her role. Her performance gets a 3 star from me.

The movie brings to life the classic fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but in a dark, twisted way, I might add. After the death of Snow White's (Kristen Stewart) mother, her father discovers a slave woman, dirty and locked in chains, in a carriage. With beauty beyond measure, Ravenna (Charlize Theron) - who gets 5 stars from me - takes his breath away, steals his heart, and within a day agrees to be his Queen. On their wedding night, Ravenna declares that her heart has been broken by a King before, and no other will ever get the chance to do it again. She stabs him to his death. 

Now, the Queen for 10 years, Ravenna has everything, including a magic mirror that could possibly answer any question she could think to ask it. But her one nervous question, asked often, is this, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is fairest of them all?" For she would destroy any and all maidens who's beauty surpasses her own. To keep her flawless, un-aging body, she has to suck the youth and innocence from young girls like I would imagine a succubus or demon would. 

One day the mirror tells Ravenna that Snow White's beauty will soon pass her own. So she sends her devoted brother to the towers where Snow White had been imprisoned since her father's death, leaving everyone in the kingdom to think that she was also dead.

Cleverly, Snow White escapes and runs into the Dark Forest. The dangers that await her there are extreme, but not worth going back to face her evil step-mother that will surely rip out her heart to gain immortality and beauty forever.

Ravenna offers to bring back to life the dead wife of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) - who also gets 5 stars from me - if he can bring Snow back to her. He reluctantly agrees, but after finding Snow he listens to her pleas that the Queen is lying, and she will give him no such reward. 

The Huntsman fights to save her from the Queen's brother and the dangers of the forest. And just when you think they will be safe, something threatens their lives again. They meet up with 8 dwarfs who try to help her, too. But the Queen seems to always be one step ahead. Ravenna uses a spell to transform herself to look like a close childhood friend of Snow's. The Queen in disguise offers her a bright red, poisonous apple, and after only one bite, it sends Snow to her death.

All her friends grieve the loss of Snow White. Her childhood friend, William (Sam Claflin) kisses her goodbye, then leaves her alone in the room with the Huntsman. The Huntsman then begins to confess his undying love to Snow and admits to having two loves in his life and failing them both. He kisses her goodbye and leaves the room she is in.

Snow opens her eyes, walks out to the crowd and plots to take back over the kingdom and kill the Queen.

The Queen finally falls to her own death by the hand of Snow White, but only after the death of quite a few people along the way. The kingdom and the land are restored to harmony, and the evil is lifted from the land.

All in all I thought this movie was great, but there was definitely room for improvement, hence the 4 stars. I will buy it the day it comes out on Blu-Ray, and probably watch it numerous times. One last thing, I took my 6 year old daughter to see it. The violence of the battle scenes was a little too much for her. Highly recommended!

Kristie Haigwood

Author of: Save My Soul & Forbidden Touch

Movie Plot

Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is the princess of Tabor, daughter of King Magnus (Noah Huntley) and Queen Eleanor (Liberty Ross). After his wife's death, King Magnus falls in love with the beautiful Ravenna (Charlize Theron) after rescuing her from the Dark Army, a fleet of invincible glass soldiers who have enslaved several of the neighboring kingdoms. The two are married but Ravenna - who is in fact a powerful sorceress and the Dark Army's master - kills Magnus on their wedding night after claiming that men like the King exploit the beauty of women and discard them. As Ravenna seizes control of the kingdom, Magnus' most trusted knight, Duke Hammond (Vincent Regan), attempts to help Snow White escape the Castle, but fails, and she is captured by Ravenna's brother and enforcer Finn (Sam Spruell). Snow White is then locked away in a small cell in the Northern Tower.

Over the next several years, Ravenna uses the Magic Mirror (Christopher Obi Ogugua) to capture all the women whose beauty might surpass her own and drain their youth, in order to maintain a spell once cast by her mother, which allows her to use her beauty as a weapon as long as she is "the fairest of them all". Tabor meanwhile is left in ruins under her rule and Ravenna's abuse of magic results in her stolen beauty fading.

Fifteen years later, Ravenna learns from the Mirror that a now-grown up Snow White is destined to surpass her and that she must consume the young girl's heart in order to become immortal. She orders Finn to bring her Snow White but she escapes and is chased into the Dark Forest, where the Ravenna's forces ultimately lose her trail. Powerless in the Dark Forest, Ravenna locates Eric, the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), a drunken widower who survived a hunting expedition to the Dark Forest sometime before, and orders him to lead Finn and his men in pursuit of Snow White. In exchange she promises to revive his deceased wife Sarah...

Main Cast

read more on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - HERE






Readers comments welcome.

3 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this take on Snow White and the Huntsman. The cinematography is amazing. When Snow White enters the Enchanted Forrest, my eyes watered at the beauty, especially after seeing the horror of the Dark Forrest.

    The cast rocked. Kristen Stewart, with her dark hair and pale skin, made a beautiful Snow White. It was great to see her in an action film. Charlize Theron played the Evil Stepmother so well. She was terrifying but somewhat vulnerable. A perfect villain. And Chris Hemsworth...well, besides being easy on the eyes, there was never a moment I felt like he was acting. He was The Hunter, body and soul.

    Great Review!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for leaving your review Kristin. Patti :)

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  2. I agree with your review! Except the title should have been The Huntsman and Snow White, LOL. For me Chris Hemsworth totally stole that movie right out from under Kristen Stewart. It was a fabulous take on Snow White and I agree, I will watch it again and again when it comes out.

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