Mini Blog
When I discovered that there was not one but two Snow White films coming out in 2012 I was intrigued. I knew I wanted to see Snow White and The Huntsman owing to the cast and the dark nature of the story they are going to tell. But I wasn't sure about Mirror Mirror. It just looked a bit too colourful and cheesy for my liking. But I felt I should see it if for no other reason than I would be able to compare and contrast the two versions.
While I was right about it being colourful and cheesy, it is enjoyable. For the most part. The story has been kept pretty close the one you'll be familiar with - the wicked Queen asks her mirror who is fairest, 'Snow White' it replies and so Snow is taken to the woods to be killed. But the Queen's servant cannot kill her so he leaves her in the woods where a band of dwarves take her in. All very familiar. But some elements have been changed. And it's the reasoning I'm not sure of.
1. In this version, Snow White is the Queen's step daughter. The Queen having been widowed by the death of Snow's father The King.
2. The band of dwarves have new names. No more Sneezy, Dopey, Happy, Sleepy, Doc, Grumpy and Bashful (I didn't even need to look that up - are you impressed?). Instead we have Napoleon, Half Pint, Grub, Grimm, Wolf, Butcher and Chuckles. Mmm.
3. The Queen is trying to get her greedy mitts on the Prince and his money and even tries to use a love potion to woo him.
4. There is no poisoned apple (well not where there should be a poisoned apple) and thus no sleepy Snow who gets awakened by the Prince.
5. There is a scene involving some giant marionettes, controlled by the Queen, who are sent after the dwarves.
Now I'm not oblivious to the fact that this version credits the Brothers Grimm with the use of their original Snow White story. But I am also aware that some of the above additions go against the fundamentals of that tale too. No huntsman, no three attempts to kill Snow White by the Queen herself, no glass coffin, etc etc. So my question is why? Why take bits of the Grimm tale, bits of the Disney version, add very modern comedy and references, make it live action and then give the whole thing a Bollywood song and dance routine in the end credits? It just doesn't really work.
But as I said, for the most part it is enjoyable. Even if it doesn't really work overall. This is largely thanks to the actors in the lead roles. While I've never really thought much of Julia Roberts either way, she is impressively mean and imposing as The Queen and looks fabulous in the sumptuous costumes on show. Armie Hammer is pretty and heroic as the Prince and Lily Collins is both fair and fearless as Snow (you just need to get over the need to pluck her caterpillars, err I mean eyebrows!).
As I mentioned above, the costumes are gorgeous and fit the scenes perfectly. Even the accents (and yes, even Roberts' accent) are fairly faultless. It's just the mixture of so many different genres and modern day references that don't work. And it's a shame as I think this would have been a much better contender against Snow White and The Huntsman if it had worked. I guess we'll find out which was the better of the two on June 1st.
A fun frolic but not as Grimm as I like my fairy tales. 6 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 8th April 2012
UK Release Date - 2nd April 2012
Cast Overview:
Julia Roberts ~ The Queen
Lily Collins ~ Snow White
Armie Hammer ~ Prince Alcott
Nathan Lane ~ Brighton
Jordan Prentice ~ Napoleon
Mark Povinelli ~ Half Pint
Joe Gnoffo ~ Grub
Danny Woodburn ~ Grimm
Sebastian Saraceno ~ Wolf
Martin Klebba ~ Butcher
Ronald Lee Clark ~ Chuckles
Director ~ Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
Writer ~ Jason Keller and Marc Klein (Screenplay), Melisa Wallack (Screen Story) and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (Original Story)
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