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Snow White and the Huntsman

A darker fantasy without all the Disney happy-go-lucky, warrior princess', aggressive dwarves and a darkly delicious queen rule this land of far, far away. Much like always Snow finds herself in the clutches of evil yet beautiful on the outside stepmother Ravenna, on hearing from a magic mirror that young miss white could surpass her beauty and take back her families castle she sends her brother to bring forth the child and eat her heart to obtain everlasting beauty. Outsmarting the Queens brother, Snow manages to free herself from captivity and away to gain back her fathers honor and her peoples trust. Enraged the Queen sends for a huntsman to go and bring back Snow's heart but can the Huntsman really obey such a wicked ruler? Can Snow regain her namesake and castle? Will the mirror ever be polished to perfection?

Kristen Stewart brings Snow White to life (and back again after snacking on a rotten apple) though the charms aren't really as blaring as the animated incarnation, while people will undoubtedly throw back to her other stellar performance in twilight Stewart has potential like her role in Adventurland yet thanks to sparkly vampires and offending British accents we still haven't seen that potential go anywhere. Charlize Theron brings the illustrious shine of the wicked queen, Ravenna to the tale with as much beauty as a certain mirror usually promises and her character is one of the only actually interesting stories in the dark and quite dull tale, making you feel empathetic yet still you'll dislike her to equal amounts. Chris Hemsworth becomes the Huntsman this time round though thanks to previous roles many who are only vaguely interested will wonder why Thor is now carrying an axe. Otherwise Hemsworth does give himself to the character with the only actual problems coming from the character itself, with a dreary back story and now appearing as just a stereotypical rouge that then transpires to be a figure of love, making a pointless love triangle giving a devoid feel of another Stewart flick I can't bring myself to mention again. The only other roles that seem to stand out are that of the dwarves, yet even they just seem like a long drawn out joke and the unfairly treated as the actors taking their roles including Nick Frost, Ian McShane and Ray Winstone appearing as lame cameos in a film which could really have done with a bit more actual characters to build up the fantasy world instead of leaving it open and void.

Every time a dark fantasy epic comes out people flock to the amazing glimpses shown which boast to add another dimension to an already well tread story, Snow White and the Huntsman is in much the same position. Like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, while the world is darker and the visuals more flashy, the story lacks any real heart and it feels like Stewart doesn't even appear to want to be in it half the film something i imagine the audience will often relate to. If more time was spent on the characters and the true story behind the world of Snow i'm sure it would have easily captivated imaginations but instead the focus is pulled on flashy images and action sequences and apart from one, they're often pretty dull alongside the colour palette of bleak greys and blacks. The film revolves around its sense of a dark and sinister world, which in lies the reason of why Theron's wicked Queen fits in so wonderfully with the film and works to the films benefit a complete contrast to the grizzly and uncaring Snow. Snow White and the Huntsman never really works the way you want it to and you'll most likely end up wishing for the Queens fall or Snow to take the apple around halfway just so the film will actually come to some kind of conclusion and can finally end. While it may drags the Twi-fans out of their coffins to catch their queens new flick or Burton fans wanting a similar overhaul of Gothic design, which in both senses it will most likely be worth a venture out but if you're looking to find some sign of hope or spark of entertainment I'd personally give this a miss.

4  /  10

FIN.

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