It's been a while since I last posted, but I'm going to try to get back into the blogosphere. Last night, my good friend and I went to see the recently released Snow White and the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders, starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth. As you probably figured out, the film is based on the German fairy tale, Snow White. The plot is similar to the original story, with an appropriately darker tone and I guess more 'layers' to the story, for example, the kingdom in which the story takes place is miserable due to Queen Ravenna's (Theron) rule, with its subjects longing for change. Gender would be one of the main themes of this film, with issues to do with women's age and appearance being raised. Ravenna is obsessed with being beautiful and youthful, as she has been taught that this is what women are valued most for (an issue relevant to our own world). Yet at the same time, she refuses to submit to male domination. I thought she was an interesting character and Theron did a wonderful job of portraying her. It is made clear that Ravenna has issues and that she isn't evil for no reason.
I enjoyed the art direction of this film. The creatures were fitting of a fantasy film and seemed reasonably original too. The costuming was good too, in particularly the outfits of Queen Ravenna. I would say the acting in this film was decent. I'm a bit weary of Kristen Stewart's acting as I'm not the biggest fan of her portrayal of Bella in the Twilight saga. However, I think she did alright in this film. Theron was good as always and I think Hemsworth did a good job too. I think he's going to become a pretty big action hero! Looking at the film on a shallow level, there is definitely eye-candy. Hemsworth has that 'manliness' about him and is attractive, Sam Claflin (who plays Snow White's childhood friend, William) is a hottie, Charlize Theron is her usual stunning self, and Kristen Stewart has moments where you stop thinking of her as a teenager (even though she is 22) and think "she is actually quite pretty".
In conclusion, I thought this was an enjoyable film. My friend liked it too, which is worth mentioning because he's reasonably hard to please when it comes to movies. If you are a fan of the fairy tale/fantasy genre, then it is worth a watch. It has action (fight scenes), cool creatures, comic relief, and the 'love' part, which many fairy tales are famous for, barely makes an apparently (some may view this as a bad thing though). It's definitely not a 'girly' film. Snow White and Queen Ravenna are both interesting female characters, which is always something nice to see in a film. The film also contains the important elements from the original tale that you want and expect to see. I would give it a 7/10.
I hope this review was somewhat helpful, despite it being brief. I tried not to give anything anyway!
