01 June,2012 03:21 PM IST | | Mihir Fadnavis
The film is a lumbering, occasionally good looking pseudo epic that walks a bizarreu00a0line between teen-centric tripe and wannabe dark war drama.
Based on the famous Brothers Grimm fairy tale and starring Twilight star Kristen Stewart, Snow Whiteu00a0and the Huntsman is a cheesy and hammy cocktail, and seemingly proud of it. First time director Rupertu00a0Sanders has little in command outside of the lavishly detailed CGI and the intricate text of the endu00a0credits. The special effects are admittedly great, but the story of a kingdom's rightful heir (Stewart) whou00a0overthrows an evil queen (Charlize Theron) feels quite outdated. Sanders attempts to darken the storyu00a0with moody lighting and epic landscapes but despite the spectacle the film never really differentiatesu00a0itself from other cheesy ancient-history fairytale failures like last year's Red Riding Hood.
The film doesn't completely dip to Twilight levels of dreadfulness but it does seem like a big budgetu00a0product catering exclusively to Twi-hards. Perhaps the Snow White story has simply run its course -u00a0we've already seen countless adaptations, including Tarsem's Mirror Mirror. And perhaps we've all seenu00a0too many gloomy sweeping panoramas , or perhaps cinematographer Greig Fraser's camerawork is paleu00a0by comparison to the skill found in Peter Jackson's movies where the camera's floating artistry achievesu00a0a kind of poetry. Perhaps Stewart lacks the modicum of skill and shred of likability that a lead actress isu00a0supposed to bring. Whatever the case, Snow White and the Huntsman remains uninvolving.
It doesn't help that Stewart as usual looks constipated and bored and bestows that expression upon theu00a0audience as well. Chris Hemsworth, who plays the cover model for Medieval England's Sassiest Bountyu00a0Hunter mag, is wasted in a dull thankless role. Charlize Theron, in her career worst as the evil queenu00a0Ravenna is hammy enough to fill large sized pepperoni sandwiches. She is as evil as the villains fromu00a0Kanti Shah's films and her shape-shifting is as threatening as the monsters from Gyanendra Chowdhary'su00a0horror movies. It's only a matter of time until clips of her performance arrive on YouTube and becomeu00a0Chris Klein-like viral sensations.
Some of the scenery involving trickling sunrays is truly beautiful; there's one particularly gorgeousu00a0enchanted forest scene with an antler and a couple of fairies. Another sequence where Snow Whiteu00a0hallucinates the trees and brambles coming to life is haunting. Sadly Snow White and the Huntsmanu00a0rambles along from one overproduced scene to another and at the end we're told that the brave will beu00a0rewarded handsomely, a message that works as a lie for those who plan to see this film.
