Stewart’s Anger and Theron’s Terror Save Snow White and the Huntsman From Its Own Mess

Snow White and the Huntsman tries to remake a fairy tale as a dark, gritty action picture, and mostly fails. Kristen Stewart plays Snow White as a fighter, not a damsel, which is the film’s best idea. Charlize Theron plays the queen as a full villain, which is its second-best idea. The problem is everything in between.

Trailer, via Universal Pictures.

The Good Stuff

1. The performances. Stewart brings real anger to Snow White, and Theron makes the queen genuinely frightening.
2. The setting. The film’s world is cold, dark, and full of dread.
3. The fight scenes. The action is loud, busy, and easy to follow.

The Bad Stuff

1. The script. Lines feel forced, and the plot relies too much on coincidence.
2. The pacing. Long stretches of walking around slow down the middle of the film.
3. The tone. The film keeps switching between horror and romance without landing anywhere.
4. The resolution. The ending feels rushed, as if the filmmakers ran out of time.

The film spends too much time building up the threat and not enough time paying it off. Snow White and the Huntsman wants to be a serious fairy-tale remake, but it can’t decide whether it wants to scare you or make you laugh. The result is a movie that is often entertaining but rarely satisfying.

The good elements are real strengths. Stewart’s performance gives Snow White real anger instead of passivity, and Theron makes the queen genuinely frightening rather than merely unpleasant. The film’s world is cold, dark, and full of dread, and the action is loud, busy, and easy to follow. Those are the things that work. Everything else falls short.

Snow White and the Huntsman is a mixed bag. The acting is strong, the look is striking, and the pacing drags. It is not a failure, but it is far from a triumph.

Charlize Theron · fairy tale remake · Kristen Stewart · movie review · Snow White