Prior to its release, “Snow White” was no stranger to controversy. From critiques of the original movie to critiques of how it changed from the original movie to public beef between the lead actresses, there was a lot of negative opinions on the movie before it even hit the silver screen.
“Snow White” follows Snow White as she attempts to live up to the promise she made to her father under the oppression of the Evil Queen’s rule. Throughout the movie, she learns what it truly means to be “fearless, fair, brave and true.”
Zee O’Donnell | Cautiously Optimistic Disney Adult
4 out of 5 stars.
As an unashamed Disney adult, I have seen every live-action remake to hit theaters. Time and time again, I have been let down as the memory of these classic movie has been stomped on. Still, I entered into “Snow White” cautiously optimistic for one reason: the actors.
The theater kid never left my body after high school, and some of my favorite Broadway actors made it into this film. George Salazar, who I know from the original casts of “Be More Chill” and “The Lightning Thief,” voiced Happy and absolutely nailed the role.
Andre Barth Feldman, who has recently blossomed into a Hollywood career after getting his start in “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway, voiced Dopey. Rachel Zegler is currently in “Romeo and Juliet” on Broadway and is famous for her role as Lucy Gray Baird in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”
Just as I suspected, actors familiar with live theater saved this movie. As obvious as the actors’ strengths are, it becomes more obvious when examining the weak point of the movie — Gal Gadot’s portrayal of the Evil Queen.
Gadot’s musical performance was the worst part of the movie. The singing was barely passable, and the choreography was repetitive and cringe-y. This may not have been as noticeable if it wasn’t for the fact that every single other number was beautifully sung, choreographed and performed on the screen. Seriously, the CGI dwarves have better dance skills than Gadot.
Her performance as the main villain single-handedly holds this movie back from being perfect for Disney lovers.
This movie made a drastic departure from the story of Snow White that Disney fans know and love in the best possible way. The writers stayed true to Snow White’s character and empowered her as a without falling into the common Femme Fatale trap. The writers showed Snow White to be gentle, kind, caring and fair without portraying her as a helpless princess who must rely on a man to save her. Snow White’s love and kindness to others remained her greatest strength in the film.
I’m not normally one to comment on love interests, but I was a huge fan of this rewrite. Snow White falls in love with Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) who is a thief the Evil Queen attempts to kill before she saves his life. Jonathan learns selflessness and that there is still good in the world after meeting Snow White. Honestly, Jonathan is just dreamy in general and is immediately landing himself on my fictional crush list.
Another solid rewrite was Dopey’s storyline. He was given true character depth and development over the course of the film rather than being treated as comic relief.
The soundtrack marvelously built upon the classic songs from the animated movie. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the soundtracks of “Dear Evan Hansen” and “The Greatest Showman,” did a fantastic job with these new songs. Their work felt natural to the Disney sound and complimented the classic “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work” so well that it would be impossible to tell they were written by different composers. “Princess Problems” was my favorite by far, and “Waiting on a Wish” was a strong anthem for Snow White.
I have to admit — I am not a fan of the remake of Snow White’s most iconic dress in this live-action version. Other than that, the costumes were beautiful, complementing the complex set and props of these films. The creative minds behind “Snow White” deserve their flowers.
This movie is a worthwhile watch for Disney lovers, families with kids and anyone who loves a sweet love story.
Ellie Myers | Cautiously Pessimistic Casual Fan
4 out of 5 stars
After the amount of controversy surrounding the “Snow White” remake, I thought the entire project would be doomed from the start. This is a difficult story to adapt for many reasons, and it seemed to me like the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” should have been left where it was: a crucial milestone for animation and visual storytelling that no longer serves a modern audience in the same way.
For all the drama, the end result is actually quite big-hearted and charming. Zegler is the heart of the movie in every way, portraying Snow White with the same optimism of the original character while adding much-needed depth. She is able to grow in conviction and strength by the end of the movie, but none of it feels forced. Changing the origin of Snow White’s name to her birth in a snowstorm only helped the story along and gave Zegler the opportunity to take more ownership of the character.
Zegler understands that Snow White’s strength does not need to come from imitating masculine power or wielding a sword — true strength comes from compassion and advocating for others in the face of constant opposition. This is one of the most powerful lessons for young women today: a strong, fully realized woman need not sacrifice femininity or gentleness to stand up for others.
Gadot, on the other hand, suffers from an extreme lack of character depth as the Evil Queen. To a degree, this works, as the Evil Queen is remembered as “evil.” Her appeal comes mostly from being a campy villain, which overall is fine.
That said, this character appears very weakly written in contrast to a fully developed Snow White, and Gadot’s lines often lack the menace needed to support a character like that. Looking back, I’m not sure how much of this is her fault – I felt like she did what she could with stupid lines, but she wasn’t particularly villainous beyond that.
The contrast to the original is felt most heavily in the music. Zegler’s new song, “Waiting on a Wish,” gives her the opportunity to show off her legit training. As an artist, it’s so refreshing to see Disney cast a genuine singer in a role that requires a lot of singing, rather than casting a big name and trying to train them in a hurry. The latter isn’t fair to anyone, especially performers from places like Broadway who have all the chops but none of the appreciation.
Disney continues to demonstrate this understanding by casting other Broadway names like Titus Burgess, Salazar and Barth Feldman as dwarfs and the deep bass of Patrick Page behind the magic mirror, which was a delightful surprise for a “Hadestown” fan like me.
Another standout was the charmingly deceitful Burnap as Snow White’s love interest, Jonathan. His banter was a little run-of-the-mill but still created a sweet subplot and incorporates a song in which they inadvertently give each other consent for the famous kiss later on, which worked really well and made my heart happy.
So why four stars? Gadot and her singing do not hold up to the rest of this utterly talented team. She has the look and vibe that says she should be an excellent fit for this character, but it just didn’t work. Giving her a song and a half did no favors, and they were the slowest parts of the plot.
The shame of it is that although the song was fairly forgettable, a Broadway star could salvage it in “Poor Unfortunate Souls” style, but Gadot can’t, and it’s sort of unfair to ask. She was an amazing Wonder Woman, so my biggest question leaving was, “What happened?”
Gadot’s singing notwithstanding, most of my concerns walking in were alleviated. The CGI of the dwarfs threw me at first, but I saw what they were trying to do, and after a little while of adjusting my brain to the style, it was fine. Relegating the dwarfs to the side of the story was probably the best move they could have made and their dynamic was funny enough.
The best part of including them was some delicate, sweet character development where Snow White helps Dopey (Barth Feldman) find his confidence as he whistles. I have no problem with her enlisting the rest of the dwarfs to help to clean their own house.
This movie had a delicate line to walk between honoring the original (and die-hard fans of it) and updating antiquated messages for what this generation needs. Overall, it did a good job. Anyone walking in prepared to be angry will find something to complain about, but if you have the heart for it, “Snow White” made for a lovely afternoon at the movie theater.
Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.