Snow White and the Huntsman, a movie fan review

Watching Snow White & the Huntsman had been a visual feast. The action was steady at the start with rousing battles, colored flags and dark knights made of shards of dark glass. Kristen Stewart as Snow White was ethereal and innocent. She may be no match to Charlize enchanting appeal but her beauty was different, fragile but disarming.

And Chris Hemsworth, ah. He asserts masculinity with his roughness and might with the blow of an ax, quite different from that of William, the Duke’s son who strikes with a bow and arrow. Honestly, I haven’t watched Hemsworth in Thor and saw him only in The Avengers. But I liked him here, mortal and vulnerable. He reminded me of Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall.  Especially in one scene when Snow White was “sleeping”. I love that scene J

Meanwhile, the Dark Forest was its own character. Mysterious and dangerous, it will play tricks on your mind, awakening your fears through hallucinations with its moving trees and dark creatures. On the other hand, the land of the fairies was an inducing sight, a dream straight out of a fairytale. With moss-covered turtles, inquisitive bunnies and pixie fairies, it’s quite easy to be enthralled by it.

In terms of cinematography, the dramatic vistas of the castle near the sea with waves splashing on the jagged rocks and scenes of mountain ranges, woodlands, caverns made great cinematic viewing while the costumes especially of the queen easily became part of the cast. Elaborate and elegant, it radiated strength and beauty and complemented Charlize’s Evil Queen character very well.

Honestly, I am a fan of this type of film. I like period pieces like The Last of the Mohicans and The House of Flying Daggers. The knowledge that they spent unheralded hours to make costumes and research locations on top of other elements like horses, armors, swords is what appealed me to this movie. And the script was not too bad. Yes, they had added a twist to it but I think it can happen, it can be rationalized.

Because more than the twist, I think this movie was meant to be experienced. Like going through a hall full of paintings, it was meant to visually stimulate you, to leave your mouth agape with its colors and landscapes, not quite made for too much cerebral thinking. It was meant for you feel discord, collision between two strengths, good and evil in a grand cinematic scale.

I tried reading some reviews of critics because I wanted to know if they liked it too. Some were lambasting the acting, the twist of the story and a local critic sadly wasn’t happy with the back stories of the characters, why the queen became evil and why the huntsman became a drunkard. Are you kidding me?! Maybe a string of pallid sequences will equate as his moment of joy, he seems no need for character motivation, unbelievable. Seriously, are they being paid to review or paid only to criticize?  Note to others, if you love to criticize, be a critic and get paid for it.

I’m writing this as a viewer and a fan of movies. And unlike some critics I like back stories. I want to know how one character became the way he or she is. And maybe many millions of fans do too because the box office results speak for itself. But one consolation on reading these stinging reviews was this, it made me realize that even though some people will be raining on your parade, many more will be cheering you on especially if you believe in what you do. Hmm.. let me see, that applies to any endeavor even writing.

To end, if there's anything I didn't like in the movie, it was when the dwarfs burst into song in a campfire, it was a little dragging for me. I’m not a fan of singing sequences, sorry. And I was a bit sad that the dwarfs had some angst too. But then I realize this isn’t one of the cutesy, chirpy fairy tales they used to make. So okay, let the dwarfs have their angst then so I can have my Snow White in armor, riding a horse and charging by the waves J