Well, everyone, today, we review the latest of Disney’s live-action/CGI remakes. Sadly, this is one that has seemed to cause much controversy, thanks to some rude comments that main actress Rachel Zegler made a while back about the old animated Snow White film, and other things not related to that. But was all that worth making this film flop? Well, let’s find out by talking about the latest Disney remake, which is simply titled Snow White.
Plot: Due to being stuck in a snowstorm one night, the Good King, and Queen (Hadley Fraser, and Lorena Area, respectively) decide to name their daughter Snow White to honor that particular snowy day. Later on, the Queen dies of an illness, and the King, after hastily marrying an enchantress (Gal Gadot), who is later known as the Evil Queen, disappears, after going on a campaign. After being treated to a scullery maid, and meeting a bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), can Snow White (Rachel Zegler), along with seven Dwarves (Jeremy Swift, Tituss Burgess, Andrew Barth Feldman, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, and Andy Groteleuschen respectively), can Snow White reclaim the Kingdom back from the Evil Wueen, and rebuild it back on what her parents meant it to be in the first place?
Now, putting aside all the controversy that surrounds this film, particularly around the main actress Rachel Zegler, who played Snow White in this film, did this film deserve to get mixed reviews, and a lot of hate from critics, and the public in general, along with not making a whole lot of money back? Well, definitely not! Granted, like with many of Disney’s remakes, there are some scenes in this remake that don’t seem to land as much of an emotional punch, or impact like in this film’s animated counterpart. Still, what this film does, that not nearly as many of the remakes seem to succeed as well in, is making it updated, and adding quite a few things to it, and making it work. The only other times that Disney has seemed to do this, including prequels, and sequels, have been films like Maleficent (2014), Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2019), Dumbo (2019), Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), and Mufasa: The Lion King, to name a few. So, in what ways does this new Snow White work well? Well, for one, having the Good King, and Queen (yes, we do see Snow White’s biological parents for a bit) in this film, along with the possibly interesting reason that they gave their child her name. Now, could this have possibly been the case in order for Disney to be less woke this time like Disney has seemed to have developed a bad reputation for in recent years? Well, perhaps! You got me! Anyway, many of the characters were well developed as well, whether they were onscreen throughout the film, or were just onscreen for a shorter amount of time. Truth be told, if there was one thing that could be potentially better about this than the Disney animated film, it would be the relationship between Snow White, and a bandit named Jonathan. Yes, you heard that right. This time, instead of a prince, we have a thief named Jonathan. Let me tell you, he was definitely a welcome change for this remake. Even the dwarfs, despite it not being the best idea that they’re all CGI, instead of actual short people being cast as them, were very good. Hey, it was even nice to see a little more development, and growth for the one dwarf, known as Dopey. Then, of course, there is the Evil Queen herself. Well, it was interesting to have her start off as a citizen, and an Enchantress, before she married into the throne. Also definitely an interesting change. As for the character, Snow White herself, even if some people will be upset about some of the things that the actress, who played her, said about the animated Snow White, the character herself was still well done. However, I would say that one of the major highlights of this movie is the music. First of all, not only do we have the majority of the songs from the animated film, with a couple exceptions, but this remake did a great job of updating them, adding new lyrics, and still making them as catchy, and memorable as they were in the animated film. Second, not only do we have those, but we also have new original songs in this remake as well, written by song writing duo Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul. Now, for those of you familiar with them, and have enjoyed songs that they’ve written for other musical shows, or films, I’m sure many of us can agree that they seemed to have become the next Alan Menken, Elton John, and Tim Rice, Phil Collins, you name it. I mean come on, Pasek, and Paul have made many memorable tunes, like “City Of Stars” (La La Land), as well as “The Greatest Show”, and “This Is Me” (both from The Greatest Showman). Well, this new remake of Snow White is surprisingly no exception. Whether it’s songs like the villain song, “All Is Fair”, “Princess Problems”, the love ballad “A Hand Meets A Hand”, or especially the opening number “Where The Good Things Grow”, wow, Benj, and Pasek proved once again that they can make original songs that would be difficult to leave your head. Hard to believe!?! Well, let me put it to you all this way! Originally, because of some remarks that actress Rachel Zegler made about the animated film, as well as some negative political statements that she made along the way, I was on the fence, and felt torn about seeing this Snow White. However, after hearing positive reviews from people like a good friend of mine, along with listening to the soundtrack on YouTube almost a week before the film itself was released, I decided to go ahead, and see this new Snow White film after all. Low, and behold, I did see it about a month later, a couple weeks ago, actually, and the songs were stuck in my head. I even imagined myself doing an Irish dance to the opening number, “Where The Good Things Grow”. Yeah, imagine that! All to say, I wouldn’t be surprised if, had this been the Disney film to be released during Christmas time, and Mufasa: The Lion King moved to a slightly later date, Snow White had performed even somewhat better than it currently has. Oh, and one other thing to mention! It was great to see Disney try to do something newer, and more fresh, while also trying to also stick with some elements that were in the old animated film, as opposed to say making it more of closer shot for shot remake like in more recent years. That is especially since Disney hasn’t done as great of a job of that since 2014’s Maleficent, 2015’s Cinderella, or 2016’s The Jungle Book.
But with me gushing about all these positive elements of Snow White, are there any negative things about it? Well, yeah! For one, some of casting for the bandits that followed Jonathan in this film, some of them probably weren’t the best casting choices. Also, with the casting of the dwarfs, though the CGI on the dwarfs isn’t bad, the film could have still made the better choice of using actual people with dwarfism. As for the storyline, though it was good with adding new material to make it feel newer fresh, it did sometimes also seem to feel like something that might have felt more like it was made for ABC, or Disney Channel, or something like that. Finally, as I also mentioned earlier, there were some moments that could have maybe done better with making an emotional impact just as much, if not more so than in the animated film.
And that’s my review for Disney’s Snow White. Honestly, all the controversy that surrounded this Disney live-action remake, I personally wish that it happened to another remake. I say that not only because of it having a really expensive budget, and this film only grossing a fraction of that back, but also because of what good things are in it, and yet not nearly as many people not willing to give it a chance because of the controversy surrounding it. Once again, I would say please go see it, and give it a chance! You’ll most definitely be surprised, even if some things about it could have made this film better. So, again I say, go see it, if you’re even remotely curious about it, and do so with an open mind!
Final Rating: 8/10
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 