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Thanks to her role as Bella Swan in the Twilight series, Kristen Stewart has become one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood. It may seem logical, then, that if you team her up with one of Hollywood’s hottest young hunks, an Oscar winner, and a bunch of big-name little people, you’d have an instant hit on your hands. Instead, first-time director Rupert Sanders ended up with the forgettable fairy tale, Snow White and the Huntsman.
Charlize Theron gives a creepy performance as Ravenna, the beautiful young woman who steals the widowed king’s heart before taking both his life and his throne. The vain new queen rules the kingdom with an iron fist, all the while keeping the young princess, Snow White (Stewart), locked away in a tower.
When she discovers that Snow White can be the key to either her downfall or her immortality, the queen sends for the princess. But Snow White manages to escape into the Dark Forest—and the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) whom the queen hires to track her soon becomes her ally.
Snow White and the Huntsman is definitely unlike any other adaptation of the classic fairy tale. It’s dark and gritty and action-packed, with a heroine who suits up and takes charge instead of standing by and looking pretty while the men do all the work.
Still, there isn’t much about Stewart that will make audiences eager to go into battle beside her. There’s nothing particularly fair about the dark-haired star—especially not when compared to Charlize Theron—and her performance is uninspiring and flat. Her facial expressions seem to fluctuate between vaguely angsty and vaguely confused, making the whole film feel a little too much like Bella Swan and the Seven Dwarfs.
Of course, it’s no big surprise that Theron is spine-tinglingly evil as the wicked queen. Though her performance tends to be a bit much at times (especially in comparison to Stewart’s)—and the queen’s magical powers don’t make a whole lot of sense—she’s still the kind of character that you’ll enjoy watching.
Perhaps the best performance in the film, however, comes from Hemsworth, who channels both the strength and vulnerability of Thor into a believable performance as the heartbroken huntsman.
The film focuses on the characters—which is definitely for the best, since the story is generally rambling and incoherent. Seemingly in an attempt to capture the epic fantasy style of The Lord of the Rings, the title characters spend much of the movie wandering through the wilderness, encountering trolls and fairies and other magical creatures that don’t seem to have much bearing on the story.
Snow White and the Huntsman is certainly a good-looking movie. The sets and costumes and effects do make it a sight to behold. But, with its random adventures and ho-hum characters, it’s far from a thrilling summer adventure. It definitely won’t take any spells or magical potions to make you forget all about it.
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