Parmis Sahrapima, Web Co-Editor-in-Chief

“Snow White and the Huntsman” was a great remake of the original German fairy tale that was best depicted by the Brothers Grimm. Not only does the remake depict the fairy tale with more accuracy than the Disney version “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” but it also does a great job at portraying the cruelty and grotesqueness that have for centuries been of great significance to the original tale.

While the protagonists are played by Kristen Stewart as Snow White and by Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, the real star of the movie is the cruel and abhorrent Queen Ravenna, played by Charlize Theron. Theron does a magnificent job of bringing to life the original queen in the fairy tale by portraying her twisted actions of eating the hearts, livers, and lungs of other humans to remain fair and beautiful.

“Snow White and the Huntsman,” unlike the Disney version, shows a great effort to make the characters more relatable to the audience as well as giving them their own individual character and unique faults and weaknesses. The dwarves, for example, are no longer used as ornaments to the plot or given one-dimensional qualities, but have instead showed the audience their individuality, distinctness, and depth.

Furthermore, Queen Ravenna and Snow White are more than beautiful decorations to the plot; they have in fact reversed roles with the men and are only being helped by them. We can see this through the loyalty and submissiveness that Ravenna’s brother Finn (played by Sam Spruell) shows to Ravenna, as well as when the Huntsman gets on his knees to Snow White in obeisance to her when she was revived from her deathbed and has delivered an inspirational speech to begin her crusade.

The imagery in the movie is quite unique. Many of the scenes include new concepts like Ravenna’s milk bath, the liquid metal Magic Mirror and the bloody and black drains of Ravenna’s body mixed with sulking crows when she flees from the swords of William and the Huntsman. The wetness depicted by the movie gives it a raw and more resolute feel, which even intensifies the cruelness and grossness deliberately meant to be illustrated by the movie.

Unfortunately, the movie does rely too much on visuals and not enough on explaining the mysteries and back stories that the plot holds. The movie proved unsuccessful at giving a clear explanation of the relationship between Ravenna and her brother Finn. While their relationship gave hints of incest, the siblings are also linked magically, which was frustratingly left unsaid.

Furthermore, the movie flashed over details such as the relationship between William (played by Sam Claflin) and Snow White, and whether Snow White’s heart truly belonged to the Huntsman or to William. We see that Snow White made the first move of wanting to kiss William, who at that time was Ravenna in disguise, but we see that she is not woken up after being poisoned when the real William kisses her. Instead, it is the Huntsman’s kiss that brings her back to life, but no passion was shown between them throughout the movie.

For those in search of a summer movie, “Snow White and the Huntsman” would be a great choice. The movie is a marvelous and compelling action remake of the original tale, and and adds much more depth to the cliches regularly seen in fairy tales. However, be prepared to not understand some of the words and sentences that the characters utter, as well as some of the confusion that comes with the plot. Other than that, the movie does a great job at depicting two strong female leads, with men playing secondary roles—a plot that is much less common in the movie industry. The twisted character and plot, as well as the great visuals, will surely drag viewers in.