The Snapshot: Despite its simplicity and awkward story, the brightness of Disney’s latest musical remake and great music will still leave audiences smiling.
Snow White
PG, 1hr 49mins. Family Musical Fantasy.
Directed by Marc Webb.
Starring Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Jeremy Swift and Andrew Barth Feldman.
Now Playing at Film.Ca Cinemas, 5 Drive-In, Cineplex Winston Churchill & VIP and Cineplex Oakville & VIP. Also in IMAX.
Sometimes the simple things (and some whistling) can make a movie work, and leave a happy if forgettable impression. Disney’s spritely Snow White may not be the most fantastic new musical, but the film’s gentleness and optimism make for a pleasant night at the movies.
After years of nonsensical controversy on its casting, CGI dwarves and updates to its plots, the final result is more “ho-hum” than “heigh-ho” for most moviegoers. For most of the film, the plot follows Disney’s 1937 animated classic quite faithfully.
The tabloid coverage of the film is completely unwarranted, and it’s better to go see Snow White with low expectations and enjoy the face-value earnestness of director Marc Webb’s straightforward adaptation.
This certainly isn't the more effective or dynamic adaptation like Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella (another Disney remake that, oddly, was released on this same weekend exactly 10 years ago.)
Read more here: Movie Review - Cinderella is back in expert form
Watching Snow White will likely leave you with some mixed feelings on what kind of odd movie you’ve just watched. In trying to make sense of them, I think there’s seven in particular that are clearest:
First, Rachel Zegler is a revelation as the title character. She’s a princess who believes in kindness, fairness, and doing what’s right for her kingdom, going a brave quest as she learns to take her place as a leader. She sings beautifully and plays each scene with warm convictions, radiating pure happiness from beginning to end.
Second, Gal Gadot’s co-starring turn as the Evil Queen is appropriately cold and calculated, with a menacing hold on the kingdom that Snow White must overcome. Other that her overly glitzy and flat new song, her grumpiness is a serviceable job in one of Disney’s plainest villains.
Third, the greatest success of this new Snow White are the original songs written for the film by EGOT winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, best known for Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land.
Their soulful new songs for Zegler and Andrew Burnap’s new prince character Jonathan like "Hand Meets a Hand", "Princess Problems" and Zegler’s "Waiting on a Wish" are among the duo’s best, and are so rooted in heart they’ll leave you bashful.
Fourth, even their re-imaginings of classics like "Whistle While You Work" and "Heigh-Ho" have been brilliantly doc-tored to expand the score and make them full production numbers. The ensemble’s infection energy make them winners.
I haven’t been shy in my criticism of Pasek and Paul’s work in film, especially of diluting history and tone like in 2017’s The Greatest Showman. But their music here is genuinely smart and uplifting, like their work in Spirited or Lyle, Lyle Crocodile.
Read more here: The Greatest Showman is far from great
Fifth, where it seems like director Webb lost control of the film was in structuring the story’s additions to late in the film, almost like the expanded plot was sneezed onto the screenplay by accident.
This is clearest with the sleepy, anti-climactic showdown between Snow White and the Queen, with the whole cast gathered and the conflict is resolved without much struggle or consequence. It’s surprisingly easy and dull for the happily ever after to show up.
And finally, the off-putting tone of Erin Cressida Wilson’s screenplay has sometimes titled dialogue and whiplash between scenes that don’t seamless connect. The fast transitions between locations, beats and plot points feels dopey in how plainly they’re laid out for the audience.
The blunt tones and morals mean the film feels shallow and predictable, but the sunny production design and likability of the cast (including the voices of the dwarves) still make this an enjoyable movie, especially for young children.
Snow White is a fun family night out that will leave you, as Snow White herself likes to say, humming some very merry tunes.
