Snow White & The Huntsman Review

Justin and I saw Snow White & The Huntsman on June 2, 2012. Now despite the fact that it has been getting mixed reviews overall, I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with this. To be honest, of all the movies I've seen this year, this is probably my favorite thus far. Yes, I liked it that much. Not everybody will enjoy it as much as I did, but I am a fan of the fantasy genre, and different takes on classical stories (or in this case fairy tales). Before I get into this a major factor in the events centers around a prophecy and for fairy tale enthusiasts such as myself the three drops of blood. They end up being extremely important in the grand scheme of things. The story begins with the birth of Snow White to her royal mother and father. Snow White has a happy life living with her parents and good friend William who is also destined to be royalty. The mother passes away at a young age, while her father deals with threats to his kingdom. Around this time, a mysterious army springs up and he must take to the field to defend his kingdom. He encounters a young woman in a carriage amidst the chaos on the battlefield. This ends up being Ravena, played perfectly by Charlize Theron. She works her way into the king's good graces and through marriage becomes the queen. This is Snow White's birth right to be the Queen in hereditary right fashion. However, with the marriage Ravena will serve as Queen. At first she comes across as a sweet, young woman, but she quickly sheds the white and unleashes the dark as she slays Snow's father in their bed and takes over the kingdom. I thought it was very well done the way she went about taking over the kingdom. As soon as she had slain the father, her army comes into the castle imprisoning her threats, especially Snow White. The magic mirror tells her that Snow has the power to undo her beauty and power. We encounter Snow White, who has been locked in the northern tower for most of her youth. However she is now growing into a young woman. In my opinion, Kristen Stewart was excellent in this movie. I really thought her portrayal worked well. Ravena takes young maidens and drains them of their beauty in order to maintain her looks. It kind of reminded me of the legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who would bathe in the blood of young maidens to preserve her beauty. It is a curse of beauty. She is obsessed with staying young and beautiful. As she grows older, her powers wane. As Snow White grows up, the threat gets worse. With the aid of Ravena's brother and her Queen's Guard, she attempts to off Snow White immediately. However, Snow escapes the castle. Ravena begins aging rapidly. The queen summons a huntsman, played by Chris Hemsworth. Hemsworth fit into the role very well. Ravena wants him to take her to him so she can consume her heart and gain immortality. She also says that she will resurrect The Huntsman's wife if he does this. Snow encounters the Dark Forest. Amazing visuals at work here and later on in the Enchanted Forest. I thought the magic was captured very well. Snow White and The Huntsman meet up in the forest and realize through a bond that Ravena is against both of them. They join up on a journey to the Duke's (William's)castle to gain an army to lead an uprising against Ravena. Ravena is shown between intervals basically withering away and aging. She looks emaciated in one of the scenes. The encounter with the dwarves was handled well and I liked some of the casting choices such as Ian McShane and Bob Hoskins. They know of the curse and the prophecy, and Snow White is the key to life and can undo the suffering in the land. William learns that Snow White is alive. They are reunited. There were instances where scenes reminded me of Lord of the Rings with the journey to the castle and the dangerous obstacles to overcome along the way. Now, we all know that the poisoned apple would have to make an appearance. I really lked the way it was handled in this instance. Ravena is just obsessed with taking out Snow White and gaining immortality in the process. They also did a different take on the true love's first kiss, which worked well with the plot of the movie and the bond made over the course of the film. Snow White makes an impassioned speech to fight with her father's colors and take down Ravena once and for all. She will pay for the suffering she has caused. Ravena is draining every last maiden she can find. It was an eerie scene to say the least. I thought it captured the darker nature mixed in with the classic fairy tale very well. Ravena's outfit gets darker in each scene, which was very good symbolism of her getting more deranged and evil. The main battle scene was epic!!! Amazing battle at the castle with Snow in battle armor and taking her father's shield straight into the fire. The battle between Snow White and Ravena is amazing and there were some painful looking shots in the movie that made me cringe. Snow White spits out blood and its an all out battle with White vs. Black-incredible stuff!!! With Snow's gift of true life, it is her white magic that will counteract Ravena's black magic. I loved the shot at the end with Kristen Stewart in the red gown with the crown on her head ruling over her rightful kingdom. As I said, I really enjoyed Kristen Stewart's performance and it clashed well with Charlize Theron's darker personality in this movie. Unlike Once Upon A Time, you don't feel sorry for the Queen at all. In Once Upon A Time, Regina is my favorite character just because we have seen her journey and know that her mother is more like what Ravena is in this movie. Barbara Hershey's portrayal of Regina's mother is similar to Ravena, but Ravena goes farther over the edge. Ravena was an amazing character. I just wouldn't root for her to win. I was definitely Team Snow here haha!! However, in Once Upon A Time I'm always Team Queen, so it's very interesting to see how different you can make the same story. That's why I really love this kind of genre. Good action/battle scenes, a good mix of dark undertones mixed with the classic fairytale, good performances, and a fantasy backdrop make this a movie that I absolutely loved. Like I said, this movie is probably not for everybody, but for me it was everything I wanted to see from it. I definitely give this a 5/5. Can't wait to get this on DVD!!!