Movie Review: ‘Snow White’

‘Snow White’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.

Opening in theaters March 21st is ‘Snow White,’ directed by Marc Webb and starring Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Ansu Kabia, and Patrick Page.

Initial Thoughts

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action 'Snow White'. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This is a week of controversial movie releases: not only are we finally getting the Jonathan Majors-led ‘Magazine Dreams,’ but also Disney’s ‘Snow White,’ the delayed and divisive live-action remake of the Mouse House’s 1937 breakthrough animated classic, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ And it feels like the turmoil surrounding the new version has been as many years in the making as the movie itself.

In a nutshell, ‘Snow White’ was attacked early on by the far right for the “woke” casting of a Latina actress, Rachel Zegler, in the title role, with Zegler later slammed again for comments in which she implied that the story would be more feminist in nature. Then actor Peter Dinklage took Disney to task for revisiting its “backward story” about dwarfs, with Disney responding in a way that made some suspect the studio was going to ditch the dwarfs completely. To top it all off, Zegler and Gadot – the latter an Israeli who served in that country’s military – found themselves on opposite sides over the Israel-Gaza conflict. Got all that?

Now that ‘Snow White’ has finally arrived, we can brush all the outrage aside and focus on the movie. And the bottom line is that it’s neither the best nor the worst of the long run of Disney live-action remakes that begin with ‘Cinderella’ and ‘The Jungle Book.’ It has its strengths (most particularly, its leading actor’s screen presence and charm) and weaknesses – including a padded-out story and the final version of the dwarfs (yes, they’re here) – making it a mixed bag that will probably enthrall little kids but might leave some adults squirming.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action 'Snow White'. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

We all know the basic story of Snow White (Rachel Zegler) well enough: a princess in a peaceful, beautiful kingdom, her fortunes change drastically after the death of her parents. The throne goes to the king’s second wife, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), who is not only obsessed with power but also with being “the fairest of them all,” which she reassures herself about every day by asking her Magic Mirror if she is the fairest.

The cruel Queen not only rules the kingdom like a tyrant but also turns Snow White into a servant reduced to cleaning the castle floors, her previous life and her father’s assurance of a wonderful future fading into the past. And things take a turn for the worse when the Magic Mirror proclaims that the now grown-up Snow White is “the fairest of them all,” prompting the jealous Queen to order her Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to take Snow White out to the forest and execute her.

The Huntsman can’t do it, allowing Snow White to escape deeper into the woods, where gentle animals – deer, birds, squirrels, and chipmunks – guide her to a house belonging to seven dwarfs who work in a nearby mine. Staying with them and becoming their friend, Snow White’s life is placed in danger again when the Queen finds out she’s alive and sends her minions to find her – a search complicated by a ragtag group of rebels, led by a young man named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) who develops an increasing affection for Snow White.

The story is more or less the same as the 1937 original – until that last line above. Back in the day, Snow White was a standard Disney princess, waiting for a prince to dutifully come rescue her and sweep her off her feet. This time, the prince has been displaced by Jonathan, a vaguely roguish rebel leader, and Snow White is not nearly as interested in love and marriage as she is in reclaiming the kingdom for herself and her people.

(L to R) Andrew Burnap and Rachel Zegler in Disney’s live-action 'Snow White'. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Does this make ‘Snow White’ into the “woke” nightmare that its would-be critics were decrying for the past two years? Hardly. But the “resistance” subplot still falls flat, adding unnecessary filler to a story that took just 80 or so minutes in its original incarnation and now runs nearly two hours. The film’s third act is a succession of scenes that are literally stretched as far as they can go in a strained attempt to extend the movie’s running time. An impressive energy and vitality that marks the film’s first half is all but drained by the time we reach the end.

Luckily, however, there are still things to admire about this ‘Snow White.’ The production design, most of the visuals (especially the animals), and the costumes are all colorful and eye-catching. The animals themselves are adorable. And the film is bolstered considerably by the acting and singing of Zegler (‘West Side Story’), who has an inarguably strong screen presence in addition to a simply gorgeous voice.

(Center) Rachel Zegler as Snow White in ‘Snow White.’ Photo: Disney.

As for the dwarfs, created through motion capture and CG, they kind of resemble the originals yet fall short of being appealing to look at. Their faces flicker between striking flashes of realism and that “uncanny valley” look. In the end, the work done to bring them to life is to a certain degree impressive, but they can’t avoid being distractingly weird to watch as well.

The film also features a handful of new songs to go along with classics from the 1937 film like “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work.” Opening number “Good Things Grow” and Zegler’s first solo tune, “Waiting on a Wish,” are standouts, but the rest of the new material, including Gadot’s “All is Fair” and two Zegler-Burnap duets, isn’t memorable at all. That’s kind of par for the rest of the movie, as the interesting bits fight for space with the contrived or unnecessary ones.

Cast and Performances

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action 'Snow White'. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Much of the success of ‘Snow White’ rests on Rachel Zegler’s shoulders. She brings a truckload of warmth, charisma, and feeling to the role, and her soaring, crystalline voice only confirms why Steven Spielberg chose her to star in ‘West Side Story.’ Although saddled with a haircut that doesn’t do her any favors (they could have updated that too), she is still an expressive actor who oozes kindness and humanity, making her Snow White a sensation.

Gal Gadot camps it up as the Evil Queen, snarling in her jewel-crusted gowns and clearly having a hell of a time playing the villain after years as the saintly Wonder Woman. She doesn’t have a lot of depth (neither does the character, frankly), but she’s fun to watch – until she opens her mouth to sing. She’s not the worst example of an actor attempting to sing onscreen, but she doesn’t do her big spotlight number any favors, we’re sad to report. At her nasty best, though, she seems like the female version of a certain orange-hued world leader we’re all familiar with, right down to the malignant narcissism.

We don’t love Andrew Burnap’s singing voice either, and there’s not much else about him that stands out: he joins a long line of bland, evanescent leading men in Disney live-action films. The dwarfs, meanwhile, are performed by a combination of voice actors and motion capture artists, but while the names – Dopey, Bashful, Sneezy, Doc, Sleepy, Grumpy, and Happy – are ingrained in our memory, the characters themselves don’t distinguish themselves all that much. And with the addition of the resistance to the story, they don’t get much room to do so.

Final Thoughts

Any time Disney remakes one of its animation milestones in live action, the question of whether they should even do it always comes up. We’ll skip that debate for now. The company is doing it for the money, just like any other business, and nothing will stop that short of box office failure. Director Marc Webb (‘The Amazing Spider-Man’) isn’t reinventing the wheel, but at least gives ‘Snow White’ some style and elegance.

And while the film does rise up in certain ways and fall down in others, we’ll give it credit for two other reasons. First, seeing a diverse flock of faces in the cast – from the lead role to the supporting ensemble in the village – makes the film’s message of kindness and compassion hit a bit harder. Second, at least in its first half, ‘Snow White’ does project a kind of innocence and even joy that is bracing in these cynical times. We’re hard-pressed to imagine that anyone could get outraged by that.

“The classic tale comes to life.”

25

PG1 hr 49 minMar 21st, 2025

Showtimes & Tickets

“Disney’s Snow White,” a live-action musical reimagining of the classic 1937 film, opens exclusively in theaters March 21, 2025. Starring Rachel Zegler (“West… Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘Snow White’?

A princess (Rachel Zegler) is cast out of her magical kingdom by her wicked stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot ), and finds herself in the company of seven dwarfs who help fight back to regain the land and free her people.

Who is in the cast of ‘Snow White’?

Rachel Zegler as Snow White

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen

Andrew Burnap as Jonathan

Ansu Kabia as the Huntsman

Patrick Page as the voice of the Magic Mirror

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action ‘Snow White’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

List of ‘Snow White’ Movies:

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