Movie Reviews: Snow White and the Huntsman vs. Mirror Mirror
As a lover of fairy tales, it is a rare and special time when movies portray something of the classics outside of Disney. I recently attended Mirror Mirror, and shortly afterwards Snow White and the Huntsman, at my local cinema. Both tell the story of Snow White, both feature a strong female protagonist as well as antagonist, and both are visually beautiful. However, though each features the classic elements of the story, the tone and focus of the movies vary greatly.
For one thing, Snow White and the Huntsman is a horror story as well as an action adventure. Within ten minutes of the movie’s start, I was thanking my lucky stars I didn’t take my eleven year old to see this flick. There’s murder, betrayal, startling special effects, and scenes of intense cruelty and terror. It was definitely too scary for younger children, though for adults it is a compelling narrative featuring mythological themes. Several scenes used elements of Arthurian lore.
Mirror Mirror, on the other hand, takes a more light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek approach to the tale. The evil queen is not so much cruel as extremely vain and looking to marry a young stud. Snow White must flee the castle in order to grow into the kind of person who can and will rule the kingdom wisely. Her prince comes, but she’s more proactive about her own fate and takes matters into her own hands. This movie, in my opinion, is safe for children ten and older.
There were things I enjoyed about both films. Both portrayed more feminist interpretations of the tale, and I must admit that I am a sucker for any princess that rescues – not only herself – but her entire kingdom. However, while Mirror Mirror focused on humor and romance, those things were non-existent in Snow White in the Huntsman – which took a much darker and more dramatic approach to the subject. While Julia Robert’s queen in Mirror Mirror was vain and selfish, she lacked the backstory of Charlize Theron’s queen in Snow White and the Huntsman. In the latter, the queen’s motivations and obsession with beauty – while not justifable – at least become understandable. If it wasn’t for her inherent cruelty, the viewer might even feel sorry for the queen.
There is honestly no real way to compare these movies well. I can not recommend one more than the other, because they are too different. While the same tale inspired both, one is a humorous, family friendly movie and the other a darkly disturbing tale. I would recommend any lover of fairy tales see both and judge for themselves.
August 3rd, 2012 at 12:48 am
Snow White and the Huntsman at least advertised itself as an annoyingly gritty take on source material, so we were warned not to take the kids. Glad you at least enjoyed some bits of the pictures. I feel positively exhausted on recycled, rebooted and twisted IPs at this point, though, and fairy tales are among the most commonly appropriated. Would you recommend either of these to someone who has seen and read too many fairy tale retakes?
August 3rd, 2012 at 12:58 am
Well, if you’re already exhausted on Fairy Tales, than I think you already answered your own question.
However, as long as it’s done well, I don’t have a problem with new interpretations of classic fairy tales (as is obvious from the many I have “recycled” myself). I look at it like Shakespeare plays. They’ve been done over and over again. Certainly they can be done very badly or very well, but the fun lies in discovering each new interpretation.
Sooooo… I might not be the best person to ask. I don’t honestly think there CAN be too many fairy tale remakes. Other things? Yes. I wouldn’t want to see a remake of “Gone with the Wind” or even “Total Recall,” but there’s something about Fairy Tales and Myths that I never tire of. My only complaint is that too often they are not done well, not that they are done too often.