I watched this film at a cinema recently, the first film in a very long time that I have actually watched at a cinema instead of waiting for the DVD. I anticipated that the visual effects required a big screen to be savoured to the full - and I was right.
As has been said here before, the visual aspects of the film (the costumes, the set design, the CGI, etc.) is absolutely breathtaking, and at no point do they seem overdone or gratuitous - they fit the style and the tone of the film perfectly.
The acting of all the cast, especially those in leading roles, is superb, and Charlize Theron gives a terrifyingly good portrayal of the evil usurper.
The reason I give this film only a rating of 7 out of 10 has mainly to do with the story itself:
One problem is that this film is more or less exactly what you expect when someone tells you they want to turn Snow White into a fantasy film, with Snow White herself as the lead heroine. The story itself is just not daring or adventurous enough, for my taste, sticking too close to good old fantasy genre recipes.
Another problem is that there are too many minor characters which are introduced but then only seen briefly; they thus slow down the pace of the story without adding any value to it.
Biggest mistake in the script's most basic plot is the fact that we don't see Snow White for roughly 10 years and are then presented with Kirsten Stewart who then picks up the storyline and saves the world in a span of a couple of days. That robs the audience of witnessing any major character development in the heroine and thus reduces our interest in her. It has often been said recently that good TV series can offer you character development (and in result a connection with the characters) that movies cannot, because of their limited length. That certainly holds true for this film. The audience has far more connection with characters in Game of Thrones - or even the Lord of the Rings trilogy - than characters in Snow White and the Huntsman. And that is not the fault of the director or the actors - it is mainly a problem of time constraints. As I pointed out, I think the writers could have improved that situation somewhat by trying to give us some more "access" to Snow White growing up; but at the end of the day, probably only a brave and costly adventure - like turning this material into a two-parter or a trilogy - would have solved this problem
As has been said here before, the visual aspects of the film (the costumes, the set design, the CGI, etc.) is absolutely breathtaking, and at no point do they seem overdone or gratuitous - they fit the style and the tone of the film perfectly.
The acting of all the cast, especially those in leading roles, is superb, and Charlize Theron gives a terrifyingly good portrayal of the evil usurper.
The reason I give this film only a rating of 7 out of 10 has mainly to do with the story itself:
One problem is that this film is more or less exactly what you expect when someone tells you they want to turn Snow White into a fantasy film, with Snow White herself as the lead heroine. The story itself is just not daring or adventurous enough, for my taste, sticking too close to good old fantasy genre recipes.
Another problem is that there are too many minor characters which are introduced but then only seen briefly; they thus slow down the pace of the story without adding any value to it.
Biggest mistake in the script's most basic plot is the fact that we don't see Snow White for roughly 10 years and are then presented with Kirsten Stewart who then picks up the storyline and saves the world in a span of a couple of days. That robs the audience of witnessing any major character development in the heroine and thus reduces our interest in her. It has often been said recently that good TV series can offer you character development (and in result a connection with the characters) that movies cannot, because of their limited length. That certainly holds true for this film. The audience has far more connection with characters in Game of Thrones - or even the Lord of the Rings trilogy - than characters in Snow White and the Huntsman. And that is not the fault of the director or the actors - it is mainly a problem of time constraints. As I pointed out, I think the writers could have improved that situation somewhat by trying to give us some more "access" to Snow White growing up; but at the end of the day, probably only a brave and costly adventure - like turning this material into a two-parter or a trilogy - would have solved this problem