Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman…doesn’t serve great game

When you make a movie titled Snow White and the Huntsman you are already treading on thin ice. Such a movie brings back memories of the Grimms fairy tale and therefore, needs to have a storyline that is radically opposite to the children’s classic to hold your attention, else it simply falls flat. Alas, that is the fate of this dark take on the story that we are all too familiar with

Spell binding special effects and amazing cinematography in the movie try their utmost to create a connect – ageing that happens before your very eyes, almost in a single frame, horses riding into battle captured majestically and aerial views of large expanses with the central characters moving across the scenery - all make for very pleasurable viewing. The sharp contrast between dark and light/ good and bad is also very strikingly depicted. However, knowing what’s about to happen just throws a spanner in the works. Where there are surprises, the movie rises and one wishes to applaud what is presented but unfortunately such instances are few and far between.

The other issue with the movie is that it lacks humour. There are plenty of instances where the audience could’ve chuckled and warmed up to the characters but that just doesn’t seem to happen. Some scenes create anticipation of something to follow but then the movie just moves to the next sequence leaving the audience bewildered in the process

In such a scenario, amazing performances from the star cast can significantly lift the movie but that isn’t really the case here. A lot has been said about Kristen Stewart’s blank expressionless look across other films. For Snow White though she does a decent job, probably because the character itself is supposed to be pretty restrained, at least initially. In the few scenes that require significant expression, she doesn’t pull it off convincingly. Chris Hemsworth on the other hand, plays a very convincing huntsman and the role seems right up his alley. Surprisingly, Charlize Theron ends up disappointing, shouting and screaming more than acting and doesn’t strike the kind of terror her character is meant to, despite screaming her lungs out. The dwarfs (yes, this is Snow White after all) almost seem to be added as an after thought for all the value they serve in the movie which is a pity because they could have really added to the ‘fun’ element in the movie.

At the end of it all, while one can clearly see the intent of the director and glimpses of what he wished to present, the movie just doesn’t quite hit the bulls eye. In fact, it ends up far from the intended mark and one gets the feeling that getting in this hunt really wasn’t quite worth it