Long live the evil Queen

Snow White and the Huntsman

Director Rupert Sanders Screenwriters Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini Cast Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin

When it comes to beauty, it is easy to wonder just what Charlize Theron has to worry about. She asks her magic mirror the age-old question; “Who is fairest of them all?” The mirror, which turns into a magical gooey creature, in its infinite wisdom and omniscience, answers that it is Queen Ravenna (Theron) who is the most beautiful in the land. Not so surprising and hardly difficult to believe, given how gob-smackingly stunning she looks here. She also puts on a devilishly sexy English accent, which all the more boosts her appeal. But hold on, the mirror is not finished. There is someone destined to surpass her. And this is none other than her stepdaughter, Snow White (Stewart). If you pit one against the other, it is obvious that both in terms of talent and beauty, Theron thoroughly outclasses the helpless young princess. So don’t begrudge yourself for secretly siding with the Queen throughout.

But it turns out the Queen is an evil tyrant whose insecurity has driven to do insane things. Her country is a war-torn mess of a dump, and in order to preserve her beauty, she sucks “youth” out of many innocent young women. When she hears her eternal beauty will be maintained if she consumes Snow’s heart, you know she will stop at nothing to achieve exactly that. So imagine her shrieking anger when Snow manages to escape. The guard in charge, her brother, deservedly gets a massive slap, and in comes the scruffy but angry and aggressive huntsman (Hemsworth). And he is the unexpected hero of this tale as he finds it in his heart to help instead of hack the young girl. He goes directly against the Queen’s explicit orders, and decides to join Snow in her quest to overthrow and reintroduce the rightful heir to the throne, i.e. the young princess herself.

Causing a slight kink in this potential love-line is William (Claflin), the Prince Charming-type character who was a close childhood friend of the princess. When Ravenna murdered her new husband the King and took over his kingdom, William managed to escape with his father the Duke, who now tries to lead a resistance against the Queen, whereas the young princess couldn’t flee. Learning of her survival years later, he vows to find her and never let her go. He makes a rash decision to join the enemy’s Snow White search party in the hopes of finding his first and possibly only love of his life.

Already, there are plenty of characters to develop and juggle. And for the most part, all the leads are given proper attention to, with actors more than merely looking the part. Oscar-winning Theron steals the show whenever her deliciously over-the-top, mentally unstable and dangerous Queen appears. She represents anything and everything related to death and decay, and her darkly majestic presence is truly a major casting highlight, which would explain why Theron has taken centre stage in much of the film’s advertising. The film also provides a brief glimpse into her past and the abuse she witnessed as a child, which partly explains her constant wrath and fiery impulses. Although this undermines the evil stature of her character, the vulnerability Theron brings out in someone who was never expected to arouse an ounce of sympathy is an impressive feat, and introduces an interesting angle on a fascinating villain.

Her only realistic nemesis and one who can put an end to the wicked Queen’s curse is Stewart. What she may lack superficially in looks, she makes up for by carrying innocence and general goodness. It is told early on that Snow possesses rare beauty…in her heart, and that this will eventually vanquish evil. It sounds all too cheesy and childish, and the grown-up Stewart doesn’t exactly look like the poster child of untainted purity, but it’s her blossoming confidence and representation of “life” she carries that translates well on the screen. The nervous, twitching looks Stewart cannot shake off in any film she stars in do serve her well here, as with these she can convincingly look weak and worried.

Of the two men, coming out on top is Hemsworth, who trades in his usual weapon of choice, a Norse hammer, for some axes, assisting the princess with his macho charisma. He does also get a crucial scene of sentimentality that the actor handles with touching poise. Sharing a little less screen time is Claflin, last seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as the priest who lost more and more clothing as the film progressed. Here he’s given as little to work with as he did in Rob Marshall’s mediocre Pirates entry, and the single memorable aspect about his character is his considerable archery skills. Other than that he has a small role to play in the end, and his interaction with his childhood sweetheart goes disappointingly unaddressed.

Staying loyal to the tale of Snow White, the audience gets the meet the dwarves as well as the infamous poisoned apple. The dwarves are the most underdeveloped group of the lot, and we just have to settle for watching them as mild comic relief. But given the predominantly British talent involved (Ray Winstone, Toby Jones, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan etc), it must be said there was a lot more potential to make something more out of these guys than to use them for a few comic scenes involving the sewer.

Focusing back and forth between the Queen’s castle where she is plotting her next move against her stepdaughter and Snow White’s justice journey, first-time director Sanders finds a simple yet effective way of weaving all the strands together. He throws in a whole load of extended shots of beautiful scenery capturing all sorts of landscapes and different weathers. It’s nothing inventive or particularly original, but they serve their purpose, offering smooth transitions between scenes.

The action remains small-scale throughout, and despite the disappointing final showdown with the Queen, the rest of the pulse-racing action is filmed with focus and energy. Whenever you feel the narrative is slowing down slightly, Sanders brings back the healthy pace with bursts of energy stemming from the well-choreographed, compact action. It is long overall, with scenes that could have worked just as well, if not better in a shorter time period, but along with all the cute furry animals also making an appearance, this two-hour long spectacle is well worth sitting through, if not only for Theron’s magnificently ferocious turn.