Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

[liptonrm_backup]

I saw Snow White and the Huntsman over the weekend and was pleasantly satisfied with how much I enjoyed it. It was life-changing cinema but it was fun and exciting and things moved along at a good pace. I very much enjoyed it.


Can I just say how much fun it was to see a movie that was all about the ladies? I get so tired of watching movies/tv shows/etc that are all about the dudes. It's probably still residual SPN testosterone overload, but it was so nice to see a movie where the ladies drove the action. The dudes were pretty awesome (OT3 anyone?) but it was the ladies who took that story by the scruff and took it for all it was worth.

This is an incredibly beautiful movie to look at. The cinemetography, the costumes, the sets, everything is gorgeous. Simply amazing.

Charize Theron was, or course, amazing. She brought real pathos to the evil queen while still being full on evil. Ravenna was pitable and even tragic. Most actors wish they could chew the scenery half as well as she can.

There's a meta that's itching at me about the Ravenna character and mental illness, but I would have to watch the movie again and give it a whole lot more thought. It has to do with the magic mirror and the queen's sudden fear of being upstaged by Snow White and possibly feminism?. Come on, brain, don't fail me now.

The popular thing seems to be to hate on Kristen Stewart but I enjoyed her turn here. Granted, I've never really seen any of the Twilight movies so I don't have the specter Bella Swan to contend with. If nothing else, the girl has solid screen presence, she held her own in scenes with Hemsworth and McShane and Theron, which is saying something. The character was a sparkly Mary Sue but it didn't bother me. Snow was a counterpoint to Ravenna, a mirror image, if you will, and she needed to be as good as the queen was evil. But they did a good job of also making her as human as the queen.

Anyway, the Huntsman's manpain was equally as egregious. He felt all the feelings, you guys! He was a drunk! Who didn't care! Except for how he did! FEEEEEEEEEEELINGS!!!!! He had them.

Not every movie needs to be EPIC. Sometimes it's nice to sit down and be thoroughly entertained for two hours. This was a fun fantasy flick that referenced all sorts of movies that came before it (Legend, LotR, Narnia, Willow, just to name a few) while still telling a fun, engrossing story. I kind of loved it for that.

OT3 FTW!!!!

I'm definitely going to buy the dvd once it comes out and then do a double feature with Willow. It'll be awesomest, nerdiest night ever. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

I keep on typing "Snow White and the Hungsman." Inevitable porno in 5...4...3....

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Comments

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

The popular thing seems to be to hate on Kristen Stewart but I enjoyed her turn here. Granted, I've never really seen any of the Twilight movies so I don't have the specter Bella Swan to contend with.

I watched all the movies (my daughter is a huge Twilight-fan), and I still don't hate her. She has tons of mannerisms, but movie by movie she grows into the part and gets stronger (not to mention that the screenplays improve Mrs. Meyer's silly nonsense a great deal). Im looking forward to watch Snowwhite!

[dodger-sister.livejournal.com]

You saw at least one of the Twilight movies - remember, we watched it at New Years and we got so bored by it that once Volchok died, we just started talking about Nick Fury. And then we got so distracted that we didn't realize it was midnight until afterwards.

Ah, good times, good times.

This was a fun fantasy flick that referenced all sorts of movies that came before it (Legend, LotR, Narnia, Willow, just to name a few) while still telling a fun, engrossing story.

I have seen lots of people saying that this movie ripped off all those other movies and that made it so unoriginal. And I am kind of 'what?' about that because a) for a retelling of Snow White, I thought it was pretty original. At least it was a verison of Snow White I had never seen before, and b) it wasn't enough like any of those movies to be considered a rip-off. All stories draw from other stories, that's how we get new stories. I don't know why that bothered me so much.