When Disney released its live action Snow White, it created some controversy stemming from the casting choices and ending with the overall quality of the movie. Despite all the different complaints, the main issue–at least for me–isn’t the controversy but how boring the movie was overall.
My friend, Felicity, and I went to see it at the Lindsay Theater in Sewickley, and while we were prepared to dislike it, we weren’t expecting to be so underwhelmed. We at least hoped it would be so bad we could laugh, but we just wanted it to be over. So, here’s our take on what worked and what didn’t.
Felicity: I think one important thing to bring up before we get into the deep dive is just kind of a backstory of Snow White. Obviously, we have Snow White. She is this princess who, you know, used to rule the land. Well, her parents used to rule the land. It was a really happy place in the movie. Then, one day, the Evil Queen came in and actually killed her dad. Her mom died on her own. But, really, it’s just kind of about how Snow White was turned into a servant.
She finally escapes and meets the dwarves and meets her lover, and they really start to kinda click and try to save this kingdom. So that’s really pretty similar to the original movie, but there’s also a little bit of a deeper storyline where there’s a little bit more feminism in it and things like that. But we saw it at the Lindsay Theater, and, honestly, it was just that– I didn’t like it.
I felt like– I mean, yeah, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the movie, so I was kind of, like, I think, expecting a lot going into it. But, really, it wasn’t even a controversy. It was just straight up boring. There was no hook to it, I felt like.
Veda: Yeah, I agree. Like, despite all the issues that people had with this movie, it was honestly just not enjoyable at all. The whole time I was watching it, I could not get myself to pay attention. It was just so boring.
Felicity: What would you say was the saddest part of the movie?
Veda: Saddest part? Well, if I’m being honest, there wasn’t really a part that had me emotional since nothing stuck out to me. Was there a part you were thinking of?
Felicity: I think for me, the saddest part was whenever she first went to the dwarves’ house, and the hedgehog fell down the stairs. And I don’t even like animals, but it just made me sad because he was really cute. And when he fell, he curled up in this little position, and he did this cute little smile at her. Like, he was okay.
At the end of the movie, he came back to a closing scene, so he was fine, but I was worried about his spine because he fell down the stairs, but that was the saddest part for me. It only lasted about two seconds, so that shows you just how much emotion the movie has when the saddest part is the two second clip of a silly little hedgehog that, like, playfully falls down the stairs.
Veda: Yeah. You were really worried about that. What did you think about the dwarves? Like, I think they look pretty strange. Not what I was expecting at all.
Felicity: Yeah. The problem with the dwarves is–literally, the movie Snow White was made almost a hundred years ago, the original one–so we’ve had so many technological advances these days, but it feels like we went backwards, though, when they used, like, CGI and stuff to make these dwarves.
It didn’t actually look realistic at all. It looked weird. It was, like, sort of realistic human faces and these, like, really artificial bodies. It didn’t look real at all. It was creepy, actually. Like, kids, you know–this is supposed to be a little bit of a PG movie, I think. But for children, honestly, the dwarves are kinda scary.
Veda: Yeah, they looked very uncanny, and they also didn’t match the rest of the world around them. I didn’t like it.
Felicity: I feel like the editing style or–not, well– I guess you can say editing. I feel like the special effect styles and stuff were different throughout the movie because, like–I will say, I like the animals that they made in it.
It looked realistic enough to work for the movie but also had a bit of whimsy in it. So you could tell it wasn’t really, like, definitely– you know, man-made CGI. But, the dwarves had, I feel like, a completely different animation style where they just really went for that realistic look rather than, like, the rest of, like, the whimsical fantasy kinda look. But the realistic look didn’t look realistic because it was just, like–it just looked like clay. It literally looked like clay animation, which is not what it’s supposed to be at all.
Veda: One other thing that I couldn’t stop focusing on was their acting. The acting was a main issue for me. It was just very unnatural and especially Rachel Zegler. I’d say Rachel Zegler–she’s the only one who played Snow White, and a lot of controversies started with her. But, I’d say I just didn’t like her acting. I didn’t feel like she really truly embodied the role of Snow White.
Felicity: It didn’t feel like it was really, like–yeah, it felt like she was herself. She was Rachel Zegler and stuff, and she just kind of had Snow White on the side of it. Like, it didn’t feel like she truly was in that character in the role. And I think–I mean–Gal Gadot seemed to kinda get it. She seemed like she was in the role.
Like, she was more in the Evil Queen role because I think that’s kinda, like, how her personality is, honestly. Like, regularly she’s not the nicest person from what I’ve heard. So, it was an easy role for her, but her acting skills are just not good, really, to be so for real here, and not to be harsh, but, like, her acting skills are just kind of flat, and she was cringey. The lines they wrote for her were kinda cringey. The way she delivered them was cringey.
But what would you say–if there was anything good in it–what would you say that would be?
Veda: I guess some of the songs were alright. I mean, mainly the ones that were from the original Snow White, though. The ones that they came up with, did not hit.
Felicity: Are there any you remember? I know you said they don’t stick out, but are there any, like, that you remember specifically being pretty decent?
Veda: Whenever they were singing “Whistle While You Work;” that was pretty good.
Felicity: Yeah. I enjoyed that one, actually. That was actually one of the earlier scenes, and it kinda gave me some hope for the movie. I was like, ‘Okay. Maybe we’re at the turning point now where it starts to kind of get more interesting.’ But I feel like after that, everything was resolved too quickly afterwards. Like, it went from, this happy “Whistle While You Work Scene,” and then all of a sudden, it was back to the dwarves going to work during the day.
She’s contemplating things. You know? And it’s the whole boring storyline. Like, it’s the same fight scenes over and over again, fighting against the king’s army. We never really changed the fighting style or, like, the scene style, and maybe it was just because I wasn’t paying attention very closely because I got very bored, but I felt like there really was no point where there was an epiphany in it, and I kinda wanted there to be an epiphany where Snow White’s like, ‘This is what’s been happening.’ But it feels like it was a little bit too minor of one if it did happen.
What would you say in this movie–do you think that there were any good characters in the movie? Like, anybody who kind of did fit into their role is an alright actress or actor?
Veda: No. Not necessarily. I mean, some of the dwarves–I think their personalities were fitting to the original. But other than that–any of the real actors–it was all pretty bad. I don’t think any of them even matched up to their roles.
Felicity: Yeah. How did you feel about the, well, he wasn’t a prince, but how did you feel about Snow White’s lover? I can’t remember the name. But yeah. How did you feel about him?
Veda: I just don’t think he fits the role. And he was pretty cringey. And they fell in love after a day, which makes no sense to me. It’s weird. So unrealistic.
Felicity: Yeah, I agree with that. They were not it. They didn’t, hit like they were supposed to. I didn’t feel natural, and the acting was flat. The characters weren’t dynamic at all. I felt the characters kinda had the same personality the whole time. There was no big change or anything. Especially Snow White. Like, she didn’t go from timid to powerful or something like that. You know? She just kinda stayed this, like, hopeful dreamer who then eventually is just, like, talks people into, like, listening to her again, which is kind of annoying. Also, there never was an ‘Oh, sorry. I do love you.’
Veda: Anytime there was a scene with Snow White where it was supposed to be dramatic and emotional, her facial expressions were just very blank, and she didn’t give us much.
Felicity: Yeah, I don’t think it was a very good movie. So how would you rate it overall out of 10 stars?
Veda: Out of 10, I’d give it a five.
Felicity: I think for me out of 10, honestly, I’d probably give it, like, 3.5. It was bad.
Veda: Actually, maybe I’ll change that to a four. But, overall, the Snow White movie was definitely a flop. I would not recommend watching it. It was a total waste of two hours.
