Snow White Review

One of Disney's nobler intentions in making a live-action Snow White was to give the plot a modern upgrade. That meant screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson asking questions like: Why must a princess wait around to be rescued by a knight in shining armour instead of doing the saving herself? Don't the names of the seven dwarves - Doc, Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy - sound an awful lot like stereotyping? Crucially, is there presumed consent when a man kisses a sleeping lady, even if it means releasing her from eternal sleep?

After what we can only assume were a million rewrites and war-room levels of squabbling and workshopping, Cressida's version retains enough of the fantastical elements of Snow White while also giving the protagonist a feminist leg-up in a way that the Grimm Brothers could have never imagined.

In director Marc Webb's version of the musical fantasy classic, Snow White (Rachel Zegler) is no pushover. When she flees deep into the forest, she bands together with the dwarves and plots to march back to the palace and reclaim the kingdom from the evil Queen (Gal Gadot). The character of the prince is an afterthought. In fact, there is no prince, but rather a blue-eyed bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) who plays a supporting role and finds himself as much in need of rescuing as saving.

Surprisingly, you hardly notice all that's new or lacking. And that may be because you are aghast by the CGI seven dwarves, who are rendered with bobblehead-proportions and creepily-realistic facial features. It is hard not to imagine a chorus of children bursting into tears when the dwarves first tumble onto the screen in a jaunty song, especially with Dopey looking as creepy as a Chucky doll.

Yet, the forest scenes with the septet of dwarves are also some of the most captivating. Rachel Zegler is at her vocal best as Snow White belting out a song and dancing with the dwarves, while her cute little furry friends scamper about - scenes feel like truest realizations of the book's fabulous illustrations.

The film is also religiously true to the book's costume aesthetic, from Snow White's iconic yellow skirt and puffed-sleeved top to the Queen's shimmering, body-hugging gothic garb.

Absent though is any emotionality as the film seems lost in the cleverness of its own conceits. We don't feel a thing when Snow White is reduced to mopping floors like a servant inside her own palace, nor when the Queen sends the huntsman to kill Snow White, nor when Snow White is arrested in eternal sleep, and definitely not when she takes back the kingdom with a gesture that is so overly optimistic as to be almost silly.

Rachel Zegler's eagerness to act out every thought passing through Snow White's head, every song lyric, every turn of phrase - gestures which may have easily become extremely chafing in a lesser actor - are totally charming on her. She brings as much cheery optimism to the guileless scenes in the forest as she does an edginess and a steely determination when she confronts the evil Queen or banters with Jonathan.

Gal Gadot, though, is less successful as the vain vixen. Her voice has a quivering quality, and her facial gestures, which involve a lot of eyebrow-lifting and lip curling, are so hammy, it is hard to not be distractingly amused by her attempts.

What ultimately saves this mediocre film is the 10/10 soundtrack. Songs like "Whistle While You Work" and "Good Things Grow" are instant classics, with delightfully clever lyrics, sung to absolute perfection by Zegler.

"Snow White" may be a strange jumble of good and bad decisions (I'm looking at you, Dopey), but if you've been staying away because of all the wokeism allegations on the colour-blind casting and the revamped storyline, I promise you that it doesn't detract from its fairytale origins. Watch it if you have young kids, and at the very least you'll have a song or two to sing for when you want them helping out in household chores. "Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! It's off to work you go!"