Monday, June 11, 2012

Snow White & the Huntsman

When a story is really good, it gets told over and over again. Grimm's Snow White is one of those stories. The most notable version is definitely Disney's 1937 animated movie. But, like most Disney movies, they took out all of the excitingly brutal murders and scary parts. Thankfully, Snow White & the Huntsman has kept all of the good parts.

Often times in live-action fairy tales, a little humor is added to lighten up the story a bit. There is no humor in this film and it's awesomely dark. Much of this is due to Charlize Theron's part as the queen. She plays the role like she was born for it. She makes the queen as cruel as Adolf Hitler and as sexy as... well, Charlize Theron. Kristen Stewart is obviously making up for bad-ass moments she missed while making Twilight movies. This Snow White is not a damsel in distress, she's a warrior leading a revolution. This is a very empowering movie for women.

The special effects are not only impressively real, but abstract. My favorite example of this is the mirror. He appears as a man completely draped in a thick cloth that is the gold mirror itself. Other great effects include the queen becoming a murder of crows, shattering soldiers made of rock shards, and a troll (one of my favorite parts).

Like many fantasy movies, this one has a lot of strong symbolism. The queen wears all black and so does her army and Snow rides a white horse. Although these things sound stupid and a little obvious, they help build the mythology of the fairy tale. These things, as well as the awesome scenery, make the movie visually-stunning.

Everyone will like this movie. It has fighting, beautiful people of both sexes, a love interest, and a troll. Parents, show your kids how Snow White is supposed to be. Kids, learn how Disney tries to sugar-coat everything. And women, be empowered by everything in this movie.

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