Tell us what you thought of 'Snow White and the Huntsman'
The new spin on the fairytale hits theaters today
Chris Hemsworth and Kristen Stewart in "Snow White and the Huntsman"
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I've been out of town for about a week and a half so I've missed the screenings for "Show White and the Huntsman," which opens today. A friend at Fox told me some time ago that Charlize Theron gives "one of the great Al Pacino performances of the 1990s," which is hilarious to me. Alas, I don't have an opinion yet. We talked to costume designer Colleen Atwood about her work on the film, though, and even dedicated a list to her greatest work. No surprise that the design elements seem to be getting most, if not all, of the praise, but we'd love to hear what you think. So give us your thoughts in the comments section below if/when you get around to seeing the film.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupCaptainCanada
June 1, 2012 at 9:13PM EST Reply to CommentEvery so often I gamble on movies with mediocre reviews, and in this case it's been almost a month since I went to the cinema, so I went to see this. The trailers for this made it look unexpectedly cool.
It is atmospheric, to be sure, but pretty listless. One doesn't get the sense watching this that any of the actors involved really cared about it that much. Theron's evil queen has a few moments, but the attempts to give her a tragic backstory are half-hearted (and the director seems to want her to shout her lines most of the time, which is not nearly as effective as he thinks it is). Hemsworth is okay (affecting a Scotch brogue). I've defended Stewart as being an actress with legitimate talent in the past, on the strength of things like Adventureland, but she's miscast here - she's intermittently believable as Snow White, Friend To All Things, and not at all believable as Snow White, Warrior Princess. Admittedly, the script gives her no help in that regard, because her Braveheart moment is pretty weak stuff -- it's hard to see how that looked good even on the page. They've also thrown in a slew of British character actors playing the dwarves, for some reason.
Striking visuals, though.
wrongheaven But she's not supposed to be a "Warrior Princess" - she's supposed to be someone whose been locked in a prison cell her whole life and has no experience with warfare. If she was kickass, it would be stretching it. I thought she did a great job, personally.
June 2, 2012 at 2:15AM ESTJLPatt
June 1, 2012 at 9:30PM EST Reply to CommentSurprised you didn't make a post for "Moonrise Kingdom." Just saw that today and loved it.
Kristopher Tapley Just never got around to it.
June 1, 2012 at 9:34PM ESTJonnybon +1 for Moonrise Kingdom. Best movie of the young year.
June 2, 2012 at 6:11AM ESTMonty Jack
June 1, 2012 at 11:30PM EST Reply to CommentA strong B+ movie with A+ visuals (like Ridley Scott meets Hayao Miyazaki). Stewart is woefully unconvincing as an armour-clad badass, and the Dwarves aren't given much to do (despite the impressive effects work on them), and yet I kind of mildly loved it.
DylanS Speaking of Miyazaki, I heard that the stag in "Snow White" is a blatant rip-off of the stag from "Mononoke". I don't no if that's true, but if it is, that kind of pisses me off.
June 1, 2012 at 11:51PM ESTwrongheaven Again, she's not really supposed to be an "armour-clad badass" really.
June 2, 2012 at 2:15AM ESTjezzleffezzle
June 2, 2012 at 1:45AM EST Reply to CommentIt strongly reminded me of my feelings towards Tron: Legacy. First time director, luscious visuals, some exciting set pieces, immersive world, talented cast, but doesn't quite get there due to some pacing and script issues. It's also over-serious at times, with th only comic relief coming from the dwarves. Charlize is great (although quite over the top, which I'm sure was intentional) and Hemsworth make the most of the relatively thin material he's given. I didn't totally buy Stewart's transformation into a warrior princess but on the whole, she's effective. Overall, pretty enjoyable. 7/10.
kyled13
June 2, 2012 at 2:08AM EST Reply to CommentAs everyone is saying it is visually awesome. It drags a little at times. The dwarves dialogue was hard to hear at some points so I missed some of their comic relief. Theron was great, as was Hemsworth. I just could not get over the fact it was Kristen Stewart as "the fairest of them all." Over Charlize Theron? come on. Other than her it was really well done and enjoyable.
JJ1
June 2, 2012 at 7:50AM EST Reply to CommentI'm seeing it on Monday.
If I can somehow get past that Stewart is supposed to be 'fairest of them all' or more beautiful than Charlize Theron ... then maybe the movie has a chance with me, haha.
It certainly looks like a visual feast - which I love.
CaptainCanada
June 2, 2012 at 9:05AM EST Reply to CommentOh, but the movie was worthwhile solely because we got that awesome Florence + the Machine song out of it. May it endure far longer than the film itself.
JMC The Florence and the Machine track over the end credits is fantastic!!
June 2, 2012 at 4:05PM ESTMykill I also thought the Florence + the Machine song was amazing. I immediately went home and downloaded it as soon as I left the theater. Too bad the Academy doesn't dominate songs that play over the credits anymore (even if they are still eligible) b/c that song would sound awesome performed live.
June 3, 2012 at 4:55PM ESTMike
June 2, 2012 at 9:31AM EST Reply to CommentI liked it. I thought they pulled out a serious take on Snow White really well and it felt like Lord of te Rings at times. It's not perfect by any stretch and it could have used more characterization of snow white herself but I think it's worth seeing
thespirithunter
June 2, 2012 at 2:18PM EST Reply to CommentWow, what a weird year! Major strikes against this film going in. Can't stand Stewart, don't like this new trend of taking fairy tale female characters and turning them into William Wallace (see Alice in Wonderland), not too fond of taking parts that could be given to actual little people and filling them for no apparent reason with regular-sized actors, loved the quirkiness and costumes/set design of the year's other revisionist fairy tale, Mirror Mirror. I went into this film dreading the worst.
But....
I'll be damned. The film swept me in despite all of the negative things surrounding it. I could see Stewart trying very hard to keep from biting her lower lip and despite the overall performance and the fact that she holds no candle to Theron's beauty, she was actually trying to perform. Good on her.
Hemsworth was actually worst in show here, but even he had some moments. Theron was grand in a Faye Dunaway performance, and I liked her reasons for being evil. The effects were top notch.
Sure it had failings, but despite them, the film was a very interesting surprise.
Mykill I too thought of Faye Dunaway when watching Theron's performance. She was great but her scenes felt scattered inconsistently towards the end (she was much more prominent at the beginning of the film.)
June 3, 2012 at 6:30PM ESTJMC
June 2, 2012 at 4:02PM EST Reply to CommentI'd give it a solid *** out of ****. I think most critics are undervaluing the film, other than Ebert's 3 1/2 star review and the 4 star review out of Minneapolis.
The film is certainly top notch visually. Still, for a first time effort, I think the story is mostly well told and handled. For the most part, I was actually pleased by the actors, even Kirsten Stewart. No, she's likely no Oscar winner (ever), but she holds her own. Thus, the film to me is more than just "great visuals." It's actually my favorite summer blockbuster so far (which isn't saying much. And, yes, that includes The Avengers which I thought was only mediocre).
My only flaws with the film: The director seems to director individual scenes well, but, when looking at the film as a whole, I think there is some tonal repetition, a la Theoron's constant Pacino. While it works in any scene individually, it's clear she was directed that way and it gets redundant. The same goes for the director's handling of Stewart in a few key scenes. Instead of going for less is more, I think his default is to have them go all out. Not surprising from someone who may be new to the 'directing actors' game. Additionally, the film still seems like it needs a little 'more,' emotionally, plot wise, etc...but at 2h and 7m, I can see how it would've dragged if it were any longer.
That said, those are qualms. As a whole, the film is a nice surprise and I was glad to see that it was sold out all night at the theater I attended.
Any Oscar chances? I think it's possible. I think it has great odds for a nomination in Make-up and Costume with possible consideration in Art Direction and Visual Effects.
mvl
June 2, 2012 at 7:06PM EST Reply to CommentSWATH is only a decent movie- not great and too long . The movie's visuals are stunning, but it had too much CGI for my taste. Surprisingly, Charlize Theron didn't have a lot to do ,but just be moody and have a nasty look on her face. Most of the accents were mediocre-including Theron & Kristen Stewart. Sadly, Stewart gave the same bland ,confused, and scared-look-on-her-face , type of performance. Chris Hemsworth has a strong film presence ,but he , desperately, needs to breakout of these heroic characters that is typecasting him .
P.S. The wonderful Les Miserables trailer looked absolutely breathtaking on the big screen.
Chris138
June 2, 2012 at 10:47PM EST Reply to CommentA mixed bag for me. I liked Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, although the latter was a bit over the top but it was still fun to watch. I also liked the dwarves, since they added some comedic relief. It looked great and had strong visuals... but the weakest part for me was Kristen Stewart. I've never been terribly impressed with her in the past based on what I've seen, and this didn't help to change my opinion of her. I found her to be rather bland and uninteresting throughout, giving the same performance she always does.
As I said, a mixed bag, but not horrible. A lot of it reminded me of Ridley Scott's take on Robin Hood from a couple of summers ago, especially the battle at the end.
joey
June 2, 2012 at 11:04PM EST Reply to Commentit was all right. dragged a little here and there. is something i would see again? no.
Spence
June 3, 2012 at 8:29AM EST Reply to CommentIt's definitely well made, with all the actors (even Stewart, surprisingly) delivering and acquitting themselves well. It drags in places, feels too short in others, but overall I enjoyed it. It's definitely one of the better post-LOTR fantasy movies, but I guess that isn't high praise.
John G. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale!
June 3, 2012 at 1:55PM ESTJoe W
June 3, 2012 at 4:08PM EST Reply to CommentLike CaptainCanada, I took a chance on it since I hadn't seen very many movies this year (only Cabin in the Woods and Avengers) because I loved the trailer but became hesitant based on the reviews - maybe I'd be on the side that really liked it.
And I hated it. Thought it was incredibly poorly paced, none of the actors did much for me (Hemsworth almost - this guy is gonna have a great career), and it never felt like there was ever any narrative force driving the story forward. The entire time I wanted to walk out and go home and throw on a Game of Thrones re-run or re-watch Willow instead. I'm a HUGE fan of Willow and I wished this could have been more like that in terms of having fun on the adventure. There was no fun here at all.
Mykill I couldn't agree with you more. The film had such an inconsistent tone. It all felt so dry and overstuffed that there was really no joy at all in watching it. I agree that the film would have been much better if it had tried for a similar tone as Willow, which is an underrated classic imho.
June 3, 2012 at 5:11PM ESTMykill
June 3, 2012 at 5:07PM EST Reply to CommentNot that the films need to be compared to each other, but I thought that Mirror, Mirror >>>>>> Snow White and the Huntsman. Sure, MM had script issues, but at least it knew what it wanted to be from the beginning all the way to the very end. I always felt SNWATH was not sure of itself at all - it started out like they wanted to give a pretty flimsy fairy tale an epic movie makeover, but it all seemed so clunky and overlong. There was no consistency with tone either - waiting over half of the movie to introduce minor comedic relief in the form of the dwarves was a major misstep imho, b/c their scenes felt like they were a part of different film altogether. And the visual effects were indeed gorgeous to look at, but they were visual effects just to be visual effects. They did not enhance the story at all or even have any explanation for being there in the first place. The troll under the bridge was cool looking, but what point did it really serve to the film? And the magic stag was also really trippy, but wtf did it have to do with anything (other than show that the director is a fan of Miyazaki.) I didn't have a problem with any of the actors (even Stewart did a decent job, or at least better than I had expected) but the film really suffered from not having a much clearer narrative drive. It could have been at least 25 minutes shorter and turned out a lot better, but I guess if the studio is paying for such expensive visual effects then they want to see all of those visual effects on the screen no matter what. I thought it was fine, but coming after the other Snow White movie that I happened to really love, I don't think I will ever need to re-watch it. Loved the Florence + the Machine song at the end as well.
*** out of *****
sam
June 3, 2012 at 7:40PM EST Reply to Commentfyi, it got a "b" from cinemascore, i have no interest in seeing it, unless someone is gonna tell me it's a must see.
daveylo
June 4, 2012 at 5:43PM EST Reply to CommentI went with a friend who likes fantasy films more than I and he found the pacing much too slow. I actually liked the look of the film but I wanted there to be more story because not much happens really. I did enjoy Stewart for the first time since Adventureland and I think Hemsworth was very good throughout. Theron was also quite entertaining though after a while the role gave her little to do. I think the whole film could have been done on a less grandiose scale. Still next to Dark Shadows, this wasn't bad at all. I saw Moonrise Kingdom a few hours later which was far superior.
JJ1
June 4, 2012 at 8:59PM EST Reply to CommentUm, B-/C+ ish?
I agree with most here that the main issue is the script (particularly the poor dialogue ... good Lordy).
I thought Charlize was bonkers in a good way. And yet, I think even her performance could have been directed in a better way.
Hemsworth was fine. Nothing more to say.
Against popular opinion, I thought Kristen Stewart was absolutely fine. But that has more to do with her scaling back on all her usual "ticks", and not that she gave a particularly stellar performance.
The visuals were gorgeous. LOVED the sequence in "Sanctuary". Beautiful cinematography, sets, costumes.
I love a good medieval/fantasy epic. But again, the script wasn't weighty enough, and the dialogue was quite poor. With a better script, the film would have flowed better and not felt as laborious as it sometimes did.
JFK
June 6, 2012 at 9:25AM EST Reply to CommentCall me crazy, but I think there should be serious consideration for a Charlize Theron Best Supporting Actress Oscar push. Incredible.