‘Snow White’ Review: A Glimmer Of Old School Disney Magic 

The latest live action remake from Disney is Snow White, though you might have a hard time connecting the old and the new story. This Snow White follows the titular character as she tries to regain her fathers kingdom after it was unrightfully taken by the Evil Queen, played by Gal Gadot. Along the way Snow White meets seven magic creatures and a group of bandits who help her become the ruler she has always had within her. I would say this film is more akin to the 2012 movie Mirror Mirror, instead of the 1937 achievement Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. You can read our full review for Snow White below. 

I went into Snow White with an open mind and heart even with the many controversies. The main reason I had good will for this movie was Rachel Zegler as Snow White, and needless to say I was not disappointed. Zegler is the perfect Disney princess, and brings the kind soul and the fearless heart that this Snow White has to life. She is definitely the best part of the film in every way. Her songs are instantly elevated by her tremendous voice and you can tell she really cares about the film. I felt some old school Disney magic every time she was on screen. Zegler owns every moment and makes for one of the best performances in these live action remakes to date. 

Now we have to discuss the other major performance in this film, Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. As everyone expected she is an embarrassment to behold on screen. Truly one of the worst actors working today, and her lack of talent is made even more apparent when she is acting across Rachel Zegler. I will say her costumes were glorious and the way they wrote the character was good, but it is all overshadowed by her horrible line delivery. The only true positive is that she did not completely butcher the actually compelling villain song ‘All Is Fair.’ It has been a while since I have actually liked a villain song and all that credit goes to the song writers, Benj Pasek and Justin Noble Paul. Gadot is giving one of the worst performances of the year and it is almost laughably bad at times, but it did not ruin the experience for me. 

As a film Snow White works very well. I have to admit the first third of this movie is perfect in my eyes, probably up to right after ‘Whistle While You Work.’ The other two thirds are just good and do not reach the same high that the first section of the film does. All around Snow White actually does not look that bad. It has its moments of Disney grey that have been a pattern in their films of recent, but there were some truly beautiful scenes. Especially when Snow White first runs into the forest. The only problem is the inconsistency. Some scenes look perfect and some are flat or boring. It is one of the better looking live action remakes all around despite its setbacks. 

The seven dwarfs, who are referred to as seven magical creatures now, are introduced with a bang. During the musical number for ‘Heigh-Ho’ they were actually pulling off what they were trying to do. This does not last. They get uncanny, creepy, and look like they are from the Polar Express every second on screen. It was a horrible decision to not just hire actual little people to play these roles. Disney took the criticism from the original and did not understand it in the slightest. People were asking to not degrade or stereotype this group and instead Disney took away jobs and created nightmare fuel in the process. To me the best depiction of the seven dwarfs has been Mirror Mirror, and Disney should have been looking to that movie for guidance. Mirror Mirror depicts the little people as people with dreams and complex emotions instead of just reducing them to a joke. The seven dwarfs in the new Snow White do not ruin the movie, they just feel weird to watch at times, but it would have been better to hire actual little people at the end of the day. 

If I was to rank all the live action Disney princess movies so far, Snow White would be second after Cinderella. The main problem with these movies is that they never give a reason to why they exist other than money. Snow White at the end of the day feels unnecessary, even though I did enjoy it. I will probably rewatch this movie once a year like I do with the Cinderella remake, but that does not make them amazing movies everyone should seek out. You can skip out on this one if you want to, but it is at the end of the day a good time at the theater and you get to experience a beautiful performance by Rachel Zegler. 

Snow White was directed by Marc Webb and written by Erin Cressida Wilson. The film stars Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, and Andrew Burnap. You can go see Snow White in theaters March 21. 

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