I posted something spoiler-free over in the box-office thread. Forgive me for being lazy, but this will be an expanded adaptation of that post.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Zegler is very good and Gadot, despite the criticisms that have been voiced of her acting, does a fine job overall—her character is meant to be stiff and haughty anyway. I thought the original songs were excellent, especially Waiting on a Wish, which, had the film not bombed, may well have joined the roster of Disney firework anthems.
The film is at its strongest when it does its own thing: the deviations from and elaborations of the original plot make a virtue of the remake’s existence (though I say this as someone who tends to dislike beat-by-beat remakes—what’s the point?). I especially liked the relationship between Snow White and Jonathan, but I’m a sucker for romance.
There is a certain tension between the film’s more original aspects and those that hew closer to the source material, I suspect because of all the revisions that the project went through. This is at its most apparent in relation to the dwarfs and the bandits. The latter were first made known to us through those infamous production photos. Based on what I can cobble together from the information we have at our disposal, these bandits were originally meant to be a parallel group to (and not a replacement for) Snow White’s companions, who were conceived of as magical beings of some sort. It’s possible that these magical beings were always going to be dwarfs, but I’m inclined to agree with the view that Disney changed them to bring them closer to their cartoon counterparts in the wake of all the criticism levelled at the leaked production stills. Regardless of how this state of affairs came about, what we have been left with is a group of bandits who have evidently been stripped of all their lines and character—it’s clear that they at one time had much more to say and do—and a CGI rehashing of the dwarfs, whose very traditional feel is somewhat at odds with the more novel elements of the film. I suspect the two groups as originally conceived—Jonathan’s bandits and Snow White’s magical companions—would have been more interesting and fleshed out than what we’ve ended up with.
On the issue of CGI, it doesn’t look as bad as I’d feared. The animals are actually very cute, and a few of the dwarfs, especially Doc, are passable. Dopey, however, takes us deep into Uncanny Valley territory! Whereas the original film portrays the dwarfs as little men (men who might be interpreted as human), this version presents them as magical nonhuman beings, which I think rather justifies the decision not to cast actors with dwarfism in these roles. Perhaps some of the criticism they’ve received could have been avoided if they’d been designed to look less human.
The messaging of the film is really very traditional: tyranny is bad, and benevolent monarchy is good, a trope that has been repeated time and again in Disney films. We also have a proper baddie in the form of the Evil Queen and a classic love story between a pretty girl and a handsome young man (Jonathan made my heart flutter, too). Contrary to my expectations, female empowerment is not really present as a theme (Snow White’s gender is barely commented on).
It should be clear from what I’ve written that this film is the furthest thing from how some have characterised it in the forum. There is no propaganda, there is no communism. This is most definitely a family film in the classic mould—not necessarily the best thing in terms of quality, but “safe”, traditional entertainment that is very unlikely to raise any parental hackles. The only thing I found remotely questionable from a child-friendly perspective was the inclusion of the words “where the sun don’t shine” in one of the songs. But other than that, this is one of the most traditional films Disney has come out with in years, complete with love’s kiss waking up a dead princess! It’s ironic, then, that those most loudly denouncing it as woke propaganda are the very people who would most approve of it were they actually to see it.
I thought it was miles better than the Lion King remake and more enjoyable than Moana 2. Its dreadful box-office performance (I was the only person at the screening I attended) is not a fair indicator of its quality.
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