Snow White and the Huntsman (spoilers)

[Mark CMG]

Did anyone else enjoy Snow White and the Huntsman as much as I did?

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) - IMDb

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I absolutely enjoyed it. It was so, so, D&D. The props were gorgeous, and I really liked seeing the archer fighting. The evil queen was awesome, and a lot of her stuff reminded me of old fantasy films - I'm thinking specifically of Prince Koura in The Golden Voyage of Sindbad played by the great Tom Baker. And oh my goodness, bridge troll! Freakin' love bridge trolls. I adored the Dark Forest. I liked that [sblockit was all hallucinogens.[/sblock]

That being said, the script was atrocious, the plot was tangled and messy, and the character of William seemed to have been put in solely to confuse the viewers (despite lookin' like a badass with his bow). Everyone loved Snow White just 'cause; I kept wanting her to start being more charismatic and whatnot, and I thought she was going to when she

Spoiler

shouted at the troll,

but then nothin' until she gave her speech and I remembered that she was Kristen Stewart, so charismatic leader wasn't going to happen.

Ravenna seemed like a mish-mash of every bad stereotype for female villains. She hates women because they might be prettier than her, she hates men because a man betrayed her, but she freaks out when a guy fails to protect her. She was sexually perverse (I'm pretty sure she was bangin' her creepy-ass brother), prone to hysteria, and

Spoiler

defeats Snow White's dad through trickery and poison.

It was fascinating to watch.

The mirror was awesome. The props were great.

EDIT: And the freakin' White Hart scene. Pretty, but useless.

 

[renau1g]

I'm pretty excited to see it myself, the previews looked pretty cool and it seems like a good movie to go to with the significant other.

 

[Zaukrie]

Really looking forward to this. From what I've read, I'll really like this movie a lot.

 

[Mark Chance]

I think I'll wait for it to hit the dollar theater or DVD. I love fantasy movies, but a film in which Kristen Stewart is picked as the fairest in the land over Charlize Theron stretches the suspension of disbelief to the breaking point.

 

[MonkeyDragon]

a film in which Kristen Stewart is picked as the fairest in the land over Charlize Theron stretches the suspension of disbelief to the breaking point.

This. Many times this. Theron is fairer on her ugly days than Ms Stewart, whose defining feature is the inability to keep her mouth closed.

I agree with a lot of the comments I have heard. Weak, meandering plot and generally mediocre acting. It did look pretty cool, but even watching with the sound off doesn't work if there's a scene in the first few minutes where the main character should by all rights be killed (scene of jumping a great distance into a churning sea with lots of rocks, I'm looking at you.)

Mostly I think that the story lagged at unimportant parts and rushed through crucial development.

Spoiler!

Snow White (who is hardly ever addressed by name, so it was hard to think of her as anything but Kristen Stewart) was about 8 when she was locked away and probably spent about 10 years in her cell. The tower is barren, and she's all smudged, to show us that she's been generally neglected during that time.

First, why is she not a psychological mess? She's been in solitary for her whole adolescance. A person doesn't go through that without being extremely stunted mentally and emotionally. She shouldn't be able to communicate and relate to others like a regular adult.

Second, where did she learn all those skills? I'll give her starting a fire, since she's actually had the time and materials to practice that. But with no instruction and no way to practice or exercise, she can do a running slide into a grate, do a controlled jump into rough water, swim in rough water, ride a horse at top speed bareback and in full armor, run up a squillion stairs in armor, swing a sword, run long distances...

Third, everything's just atrociously convienant. Why is she wearing leather breeches and boots under her gown? Where did that horse come from? How did she and/or the huntsman know where the Duke's keep was, considering how long they had to travel to get there? Did they just happen to have a spare set of armor lying around to fit her? Why is she not surprised by any of the magic of the forest that she sees?

And Fourth, where's the explanation for important parts of the plot. Why is she the Chosen One of the faeries and nature spirits? She can kill the queen because she's prettier, but how does that translate into being able to heal the land? The beginning speaks of her coming of age and now being the fairest in the land, but we're missing a bit of information as to why NOW she's a threat to the queen. Did she just turn 18? Did she have her first blood? Both might be counted as a milestone as to why she's the fairest today but not yesterday. What's the deal with having her say the Lord's Prayer at the beginning, but have no other reference to religion or Christ for the entire movie? Then there's the "romance" with the huntsman. There's no hint of anything other than brotherly affection between them the whole time, but it's HIS kiss that wakes her. Finally...WHY DOES THE KISS BRING HER BACK TO LIFE? If you're trying to reinvent the fairy tale, the "that's how Snow White wakes" just doesn't cut it.

Sooo...yeah. In my opinion, this movie was full of fail. Wanna know how I would write it?

Ravenna marries the King. Instead of outright murder and hostile takeover, she makes it look like an accident. The land slowly withers as her insidiousness takes over. The duke and his household make their escape as they realize that bad stuff is going down, trying to rescue the princess and failing.

Instead of the dungeon tower, Snow White is held captive in a comfortable bower, where she is given the schooling and luxuries that befit a young princess. And Guarded heavily, of course, for her own protection. the Queen is still styling herself as Regent, at this point.

As the girl grows, Ravenna becomes worried that she will be too pretty and be a threat. She decides to sneakily do away with her as well. Cue the castle huntsman in his traditional role. Leaves her in the forest, brings the queen the stag's heart.

THEN comes her time in the dark forest and the hidden faerie glade inside. She can LEARN things from the dwarves. Training montage, anyone?

Ravenna's been thinking everything's just dandy, until Snow hits 18 and the mirror tells her that she's the prettiest now. Huntsman makes a run for it before he's asked to explain himself; meets up with Snow. He's astounded by how she's matured from girl to woman during all the montages! They make the run for the Duke's keep, the romance buds while they're dodging the queens assassins, then there's an apple. (OR break the mold of the main characters having to hook up, and keep their relationship platonic and let the duke's son have some purpose as the kisser)

So now by the time Snow comes back from the dead (with at least some kind of explanation,) she's actually had some kind of character growth and a reason to have the skills to lead a host. March on the castle, have a fight scene, crown the new queen. The end!

Not perfect, but not bad for a half hour's thought. Personally, I think it's better than "Hi, I'm Kristen Stewart! I'm going to be myself for two hours!" and "Hi, I'm Charlize Theron! My character's name is Ravenna, which is convienant since I like to turn into a flock of ravens. I'm having a crisis because the mirror-puddle guy thinks Kristen is prettier than me."

/spoiler

tl;dr: I think the script is super weak, and that my idea is better.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Spot on, MonkeyDragon. I wish that had been the story

 

[Plane Sailing]

I saw it on Sunday night, and I was underwhelmed. I had been taken in by the trailers (I know, I know...) but I felt that in the end the plot was too poor, the key characters were too weakly defined.

I thought I'd like this more than mirror-mirror, but in the end the more childish film was more fun for me. As MonkeyDragon says, Kristen just didn't have any Charisma.

Additional queries for me include:
1) how come the bad guys just walked into 'sanctuary' and shot the stag?
2) why did the faeries become inconsequential? Having been significant story elements up to that point, why stop there?

In the theatre of my minds eye the final scene would have had snow white leading faeries and a troll into the battle with the evil queen.

Plus, thinking of a Chekovs gun moment [sblock]why have the huntsman tell her specifically how to stab someone in the heart, with all the details, and then not use it? [/sblock]

When I first left the cinema I was thinking "5/10", but I've now mentally downgraded it to "3.5/10"

Ah well.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Did anyone else enjoy Snow White and the Huntsman as much as I did?

But I wish that I'd enjoyed it as much as you did

 

[Mark CMG]

heh Tons of plot holes, indeed. You could fly a jet showing a much better movie through some of them, but that doesn't bother me with this film. To me, Fairy Tales aren't meant to explain everything anyway and I'm fine with the story being thin and the acting being one-note in most cases (largely due to the script in my opinion, KS being a notable exception since she's always one-note if not half-note ). What I wanted from this movie was a somewhat different approach to the tale and a dark, dark version with heavy emphasis on the cinematography and that's what I got. The dark forest scenes alone were plenty enough but add in the way the dwarves were portrayed, the "shard knights and shard wraiths (as I'll call them)" and the overall look of the film and it was worth the $5 I paid to see the early show. No regrets for me but I went in with low appetites and received a visual feast.