After years of hearing about the controversies and criticisms surrounding Disney’s latest live-action princess movie, “Snow White” is finally here. The movie premiered in theaters on March 23, starring Rachel Zegler as its titular character, and critics have mixed opinions. I recently saw the movie with my mom and sister, and this is my honest opinion of Disney’s newest and most controversial remake.
Pros:
The best part about this movie was the kindhearted heroine herself, Snow White. Despite the controversy surrounding Rachel Zegler’s casting as the iconic character, she did a wonderful job portraying the kind, hopeful princess who gave Disney its start.
Much of the criticism around her casting was because of her Colombian descent. Anger grew after interviews surfaced of her criticizing the original 1937 film on social media. However, anyone watching the film and her press interviews can see how much she loved portraying the character and bringing new depth to Disney’s first princess.
To add more depth to Snow White’s story, her romance storyline was changed and expanded. Instead of making her love interest a prince, this version cast Andrew Burnap to play a new character, Jonathan, who is a bandit and commoner. While this change also received some backlash, I felt like it made sense for the story. There is more of a balance in their relationship with both characters saving each other.
Instead of only seeing a prince appear at the beginning of the film and then at the end to wake up Snow White, we get to see Jonathan and Snow White form a genuine relationship. Their first meeting in the film is also the catalyst for Snow White wanting to stand up to the Evil Queen.
I thought Burnap did a good job bringing this character to life and his chemistry with Zegler was good as well. Due to these updates to the love story, the kiss scene felt more earned, and it made more sense that he is the one to wake her in the end.
Finally, I also enjoyed the musical numbers in the movie. I liked that the setlist included a mix of songs from the original film while adding some new numbers that were written by “The Greatest Showman” songwriters, Pasek and Paul.
The new versions of “Whistle While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho” were done well and brought up a sense of nostalgia. The new songs were catchy, my favorites being “Waiting on a Wish,” which was used during much of the movie’s promotion, and “A Hand Meets a Hand,” which serves as a love duet between Snow White and Jonathan. Both songs were performed well and showcase Zegler’s vocal talent.
Cons:
Gal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen was terrible. Her casting has also been met with criticism, as many online feel that she is not a good actress. I went in with an open mind about her performance, but I feel like she missed the mark in her portrayal. She was trying to be campy and animated, but in doing so, she made the Evil Queen feel like less of a threat to the other characters. The Evil Queen’s “villain song” was also the worst musical number in the film and came off as cringey and out of place in the story. It also does not help that Gadot’s singing voice, especially when compared to Zegler’s, was incredibly lacking.
My next biggest complaint is the pacing of the film. Many aspects of the plot felt rushed or incomplete. This was felt most in the climax of the film, when the Evil Queen is defeated — it just felt underwhelming. Some new characters were added to the film, but they did not seem to serve a purpose. These characters are the seven bandits who are part of Jonathan’s thieving crew, but other than that, nothing else is learned about them.
I also think the relationship between Snow White and the seven dwarfs could have been expanded upon as well, this would have made her “death” more impactful or emotional to the plot. As stated earlier, it never felt like the stakes were particularly high. Except for one fight scene and Snow White eating the apple, I never really felt like Snow White was in much danger. I would have liked for the movie to dive more into the Evil Queen’s vanity and hatred for Snow White. Their relationship felt underdeveloped, and I feel like going more in-depth would have made both of their arcs more impactful.
Finally, I did not like the design choices made in this film. After learning that Sandy Powell, who previously did the costuming for the live-action “Cinderella,” was making the costumes, I was disappointed in the design of Snow White’s dress. It looked like a Halloween costume, and it did not fit the aesthetic of the film.
I was also disappointed with the CGI dwarves. In an attempt to be politically correct, Disney opted to make the dwarves CGI to not promote stereotypes. However, their design came off creepy at times, and they felt fake when appearing in scenes with Zegler and the other actors. Disney has faced backlash for this decision.
Overall, while “Snow White” is certainly not my favorite live-action remake, there were aspects I enjoyed. The adaptation did a good job of giving Snow White more depth without taking away from her kind-hearted and sweet nature. The updated romance is cute and was developed nicely. That being said, Gadot’s performance and the pacing dampened the film as a whole.
In comparison to other Disney live-action remakes, I would place “Snow White” somewhere in the middle of my ranking. So while it’s not at the top of my rewatch list, this film, and Zegler in particular, do not deserve the intense hate it received during its production.