Julia Roberts plays the Evil Queen in Mirror Mirror, and she owns it. That is the one thing this 2012 fantasy comedy gets right. The rest of the film is a mess of borrowed fairy-tale elements, a thin romance, and a villain who should be terrifying but mostly just looks silly.
The film opens with the Queen telling her own version of the story, which is a clever trick until the script stops caring about it. She had married the widower king, who left to fight a great evil and never returned. The Queen rules in his absence, keeping her stepdaughter, Princess Snow White, confined to the palace. Ten years later, Snow White sneaks out and meets Prince Alcott of Valencia, who has been robbed by a band of dwarfs. The two fall in love at once.
Trailer, via eOnefilms.
The Evil Queen Problem
Roberts plays the Queen as insecure and jealous, which is a good idea. But the film treats her as a cartoonish villain rather than a real threat. She schemes to marry Alcott for his wealth to solve the kingdom’s financial troubles, throwing a ball to win him over. The problem is that the scheme is obvious from the first scene, and the film never builds any real tension around it.
When the Queen spots Snow White and Alcott dancing, she orders her manservant Brighton to take Snow White into the forest and feed her to a monster called “the Beast.” Brighton shows real care for Snow White and lets her escape. The film wants us to feel fear, but the monster looks more like a joke than a danger.
Seven Dwarfs and a Wobbly Romance
Snow White runs to the dwarfs’ hideout, where they introduce themselves as Will Grimm, Butcher, Wolf, Napoleon, Half Pint, Grub, and Chuck. The dwarfs rob Brighton when he collects more taxes for the Queen’s expensive parties. Snow White takes the money and returns it to the townspeople, who hail the dwarfs as heroes.
Armie Hammer plays Prince Alcott as the love interest. The chemistry between him and Lily Collins as Snow White is weak, and the romance feels like a chore rather than a reason to watch. The film spends too much time on the Queen’s schemes and not enough on why we should care about the couple.
What Works and What Doesn’t
The film’s biggest strength is its visual style. Tarsem Singh directs with bright colors and striking compositions, and the production design is strong. The Beast, voiced by Frank Welker, is a chimeric creature with a lion-like head, antlers of a deer, chicken-leg arms, wings of an eagle, and the body and tail of a snake. It is a striking image, even if it does not scare anyone.
The supporting cast is wasted. Sean Bean as the King, Mare Winningham as Margaret the royal baker, and Nathan Lane as Brighton all deserve better material. Danny Woodburn leads the dwarfs as Will Grimm, and Martin Klebba, Mark Povinelli, Jordan Prentice, Sebastian Saraceno, Joey Gnoffo, and Ronald Lee Clark round out the group. Lisa Roberts Gillan plays the Mirror Queen, a reflection of the Evil Queen who is wiser and kinder. None of them get the screen time they need.
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, which is the only real credit the movie can claim. Its $183 million in earnings against an $85–100 million budget is respectable, but the mixed reviews from critics were deserved.
The Verdict
Mirror Mirror is a film that starts with a promising premise and ends up wasting it. Julia Roberts gives a committed performance as a Queen who is both cruel and pathetic, but the script never gives her room to breathe. The dwarfs are a fun idea, but the film uses them as a side attraction rather than a central part of the story.
The romance between Snow White and Alcott is underwritten, and the villain’s schemes are too obvious to hold attention. The film tries to be a family adventure, a comedy, and a fairy-tale retelling all at once, and none of those ambitions land.
Key Facts Box
- Director: Tarsem Singh
- Writer: Jason Keller, Marc Klein
- Runtime: 106 minutes
- Budget: $85–100 million
- Box office: $183 million
- Release date: March 30, 2012
- Studio: Relativity Media
- Home release: June 26, 2012 (DVD/Blu-ray, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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