Disney has been reimagining their animated movies as live-action feature films for the last thirty years or so. However, in the last decade, they ramped up their efforts, releasing sixteen live-action remakes of animated classics. Number seventeen, Snow White, is heading to theaters this week, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised, which isn't saying that much, as I went into it with rather low expectations.
Let's be honest, in the last ten years, Disney's live-action releases have been hit or miss, to put it mildly. Beauty and the Beast was extremely well done and garnered quite a bit of critical praise. The Lion King and Dumbo, on the other hand, were not very good. So, when the studio announced in that a live-action reimagining of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was in development, it was met with a fair amount of skepticism. Honestly, the animated feature is a beloved classic, and anytime you mess with a classic, you run the risk of backlash and alienating fans.
The premise of the story is basically the same with a few adjustments. Snow White (Renee Zegler; West Side Story) is left with the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot; Wonder Woman), who rules the Kingdom like a selfish tyrant and who makes her stepdaughter a slave. Jealous of Snow White's beauty and goodness, the Evil Queen orders her huntsman (Ansu Kabia; Last Christmas) to kill Snow White. When he is unable to do it, the Queen devises a plot to trick Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, cursing her to sleep forever-only to be awakened by love's true kiss. However, this time, the kiss doesn't come from a prince but from Jonathan (Andrew Burnap; WeCrashed), a common thief who leads a group of bandits that oppose the Queen.
Zegler's casting, while controversial, was smart. While she may not have Snow White's alabaster skin tone, she has the singing and acting chops to carry a musical, as she has previously proven. Gadot seemed like a great choice on the surface, but she doesn't come across as evil enough, and she is not as strong a singer as Zegler. Cast as Snow White's love interest, Burnap, a Tony Award winner, also has the vocal talent, and he and Zegler fit well together. Another group of controversial castings are the dwarfs, who are mostly not dwarfs in real life.
This new version musically pays homage to the film while introducing new songs by the musical power duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman). While these new songs are well done, they 1) have a very musical theater feel and 2) sound similar to the duo's other works, especially The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen. Regardless, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Pasek and Paul were nominated for another Academy Award for their work on this film.
The visuals in Snow White vary from scene to scene. The forest animals are adorable but sometimes they clearly look CGI, while at other times they look real. The backgrounds in a few scenes are obviously fake and annoyingly so. Speaking of annoying, the makeup artist needed to do something with Zegler's eyebrows. They were very thick at times, and she had a slight split over her eye that was often distracting.
I admit I wanted to dislike Snow White on general principles, and some things can definitely be criticized, but overall, it wasn't half bad. Disney purists probably won't like it, but if you go in without any expectations or prejudice, it is an enjoyable experience overall, and little ones who know nothing about the animated classic will most likely love it!
Grade: C+
