Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman – When the King’s new wife kills him and takes the throne, his young daughter, Snow White, is locked in a tower for many years. Managing to escape, she is pursued by a Huntsman who has agreed to bring her heart to the queen in exchange for his dead wife being brought back from the dead. He reaches her quickly but discovers that the queen has no intention of upholding her end of the deal so the two escape and begin to recruit others in their fight against the queen’s tyranny.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) – Director: Rupert Sanders

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33702960

Rating: 12

Running Length: 127 mins

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron

Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy

REVIEW: SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

The classic fairytale of Snow White has had countless adaptations, the most famous of them perhaps being Disney’s classic animation. 2012’s is a modern retelling, giving Snow White an edge and feistiness that belies her oft-mentioned beauty and fairness. After being locked up for many years and experiencing just a few days of the outside world, just how she becomes an incredible fighter who can defeat trained solders without a moment’s training is somewhat of a mystery, but she does look good in a suit of armour!

The preoccupation of beauty and a woman’s worth and power being inextricably linked to them is problematic in a modern movie. Queen Ravenna (played with pure glee by Charlize Theron) relies on youth and beauty to live and maintain her black magic powers and barely any character can lay eyes on Snow White (the not-so-dynamic Kristen Stewart) without having their breath taken away by her purely skin-deep attractiveness (luckily she’s a nice person too!) Snow White being (an unexplainedly) good fighter and kind hearted soul are by the by – a deeply misogynist message which is only made worse by the plot essentially being about an older woman’s murderous jealousy for a younger woman’s good looks.

While a sexist plotline may not be an issue for some, the movie itself tries hard (too hard) to be an epic fantasy with sweeping shots of beautiful countryside and scenes reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings movies. Sadly, it simply isn’t engaging enough to pull this off. Kristen Stewart struggles to be an engaging lead and the male characters around her are bland with little to do other than be supportive and be good with a weapon.

Wasting the chance to do a proper retelling of Snow White with more modern messages and values, is a genuine shame and with its bland characters, this would-be epic is a real disappointment.

CONTENT: IS SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

There are a few battles where swords and bows and arrows are used. In one, the other side are all covered in black armour and, whenever they are hit, they disintegrate. While these fights are quite violent, no blood is ever seen and quick camera cuts ensure that nothing too graphic is shown.

A male and female character are seen in bed together on their wedding night. They are both fully clothed although he becomes amorous. He tells her ‘You will be the ruin of me’ and begins kissing her neck. She is clearly uninterest in his advances. The man then begins to gasp in distress asking her ‘What have you given me?’ indicating that she has poisoned him. She straddles him and holds a large, curved knife; she says ‘First, I will take your life, my Lord’ before stabbing him. The wound is not shown but the knife is heard entering his body and he slumps, dead.

After the kingdom is taken by hostile forces, Snow White is captured as a child and imprisoned for years.

Ravenna walks naked into a bath of thick, white liquid. She is naked and as she steps in, only her bare back is shown. She submerges herself completely in the liquid and when she comes out, she stands and is seen frontal from the waist up, covering her breasts with her hands.

A character tries stabs Ravenna, she cries out in pain but is not fatally wounded. The character’s father stands helpless and is distressed as Ravenna holds her hand over his heart and twists, making the character fall down, dead.

A young woman is brought to Ravenna and shakes in fear. Ravenna holds her in the air, opens her mouth wide and sucks out her youth. The woman is dropped to the floor and is later seen as an old woman, imprisoned,

Ravenna is told to kill Snow White in order to maintain her beauty – ‘Take her heart in your hand and you will never again have to consume youth’.

Ravenna’s brother, Finn, approaches Snow White in her cell. He asks ‘Are you always awake when I watch you’. He looms over her as she lies on her bed and slides his hand up her body, she is clearly uncomfortable with this. She escapes him by slashing him with a large nail which leaves a long scratch on his face.

As she escapes, Snow White finds herself in a dark bog which captures her horses legs. She briefly tries to free it but has to leave it behind when her pursuers arrive. The horse struggles to get out but it does not seem possible. It is not seen again so it is unclear whether or not it lives.

When she escapes into a dark, spooky forest Snow White inhales some kind of spores which make her hallucinate. She sees a pile of dead birds, dark shrouded figures all around her and a shadowy demon with large wings. She also hallucinates being caught in some tree branches which seem to turn into snakes which lunge at her.

A drunk man gets into a brawl with another man. Punches are thrown and the drunkard gets kicked by a horse (although he appears more amused by this than hurt). He waked up after the fight in a trough of water and unceremoniously pulled out.

Snow White is rescued by the Huntsman who cuts off some of her ample skirts. He does this to make it easier for her and tells her ‘Don’t flatter yourself’ when she appears shocked by his actions.

The pair come across a huge, violent troll. The Huntsman tries to fight/kill it but is repeatedly thrown into the air. The troll roars directly at the screen and is likely to be frightening for kids.

A village is attacked and homes are set on fire. The villagers flee in terror and women are grabbed by the attackers.

An animal is unexpectedly shot with a bow and arrow. Creatures in the forest are visibly upset by this.

Finn talks about how he ‘remembers’ a character’s wife saying ‘I remember them all, especially the ones with fight. She screamed your name but you weren’t there’. Due to his previous actions with Snow White, this could be an implication that he raped the character’s wife before she was killed.

A major character is killed when they eat something given to them by a friend although this turns out to be a villain in disguise. The people who care for them grieve their loss, however events change and things aren’t exactly how they appear.

Ravenna who has been seen to have magical powers stands in a fire. Her skin burns badly but she does not feel any pain from it. Her skin then heals and she continues to be fine.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN FOR KIDS?

Disappointing and sexist, this retelling of the classic Snow White fairytale has some good fight scenes but little else to offer. We recommend ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ as suitable for kids aged 10 and over.

• Violence: 3/5 (a character is impaled against jagged protrusions on a tree stump. His face contorts grotesquely before he dies. Several battles involving medieval weaponry)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (a character sacrifices their life for another and loved ones are upset by this)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (the hallucinations in the forest are frightening)
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (implication of rape and attempted sexual assault. Some fairly graphic female nudity although not too explicit)
• Bad Language: 1/5 (mild, infrequent cursing)
• Dialogue: 2/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of orphans, regicide, usurping a throne, fighting against tyranny and the dubious importance of female beauty.

Words by Laura Record