Thank god for good casting. Because without it, this film
would have dragged on for even longer than it did and this isn’t a particularly
long film. It’s just over two hours, but it felt closer to two and a half with
how it came out. But that is not to say that the film is all bad, far from it
indeed, but there was a lot that could have been trimmed here, or changed with
quicker editing in parts.
Potential spoilers from this point on.
As mentioned earlier, the casting of the primary cast is the
biggest draw of the film, as well as its biggest strength. For the second time
this summer Chris Hemsworth delivers a great “heroic” performance as the
titular Huntsman, Eric. In other less capable hands, this could have come
across as a blocky character that switches from initial comedic fool, to more
than capable warrior to finally being a sort of love interest, a very loose one
at that. But in Hemsworth’s portrayal we get a complete character that plays
all these parts simultaneously.
Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, like Hemsworth bring a
complete character to the screen, rising above the scripts’ sluggish pace and
obvious dialogue that cuts through the film. Theron’s queen is genuinely
dangerous and offers the film a level of threat that most of these kind of
films sadly lack and as a result make the ending all the more predictable. But
considering how well known this story is and no doubt the chance of a sequel
now likely, whacking either Snow White or the Huntsman would have been a stupid
business decision. Back to the
performances, Stewart offers a performance that is light years ahead of her
Twilight films (although I have only seen the first and third, I think) where
she is restricted to dull ham fisted scene’s, but here she thrives on the
scenes where she has a chance for decent character interaction and development,
most often with Theron of Hemsworth.
The basic story for the film is that Snow White’s father,
the king, is seduced by Ravena (Theron), who he then marries but is murdered by
on his wedding night, allowing her men to storm the castle and take Snow White
captive. Ravena then declares herself queen and rules the land for the next
decade, ruining the land as she “feeds” on the young women of the land to stay
young. Years later and with the knowledge that by taking Snow White’s beauty
and youth she will be stay young forever, she sends her (creepy looking)
brother to bring her to him, but as he does, Snow White escapes and makes her
way into the dark forest. It’s at this point that the Huntsman is brought in.
in exchange for bringing his wife back from the dead, all he has to do is
deliver Snow White. All of this happens in the first ten-fifteen minutes of the
film, so the stakes and basic premise is quickly established before we are
straight into the main part of the film.
Another positive of the film is it’s look, offering up a
good mix of real and CGI based characters and locations, Sanders has created a
complete world, one that has different looks and regions depending on where the
characters go, which is essential for any fantasy based film or narrative.
However, as previously mentioned, where the film comes
unstuck and falters is in the second act when the plot slows down, this could
be either through the writing or the editing, which is more a possible reason.
There a number of action sequences, although most of them are just standard
chase scenes, where Snow White and The Huntsman are fleeing Ravenna’s men which
can grow tiresome with no variety to the sequences. Only a short one on one
fight with a troll offers anything different until the siege on the castle
finale.
Know normally I am not one for tacked on romantic sub plots,
but Snow White and The Huntsman sure could have used one. A childhood friend,
William, who meet at the beginning, but who then disappears for the next forty
minutes, to only then again appear sporadically through the rest of the film,
seems to have been set up as some kind of red herring of a love interest, but
ultimately comes off as an expendable character who offers very little in terms
of character or plot. The Huntsman would have been a more fitting romantic
interest, but due to his past, he is unable to truly fulfil that role, which
meant that as a result the script had written itself into a hole, as neither
man could have been used to be the love interest. One was too minor a character
and the others past forbid him from doing it.
I was disappointed by this film in the end, I had high hopes
for it given the cast and the mature tone that it had according to the
trailers. It needed to either lose ten to twenty minutes, or gain the same
amount to flesh out some of the supporting characters, William in particular
and also give us more back story on what happened during the decade or so that
Ravenna was in control.
Definitely worth a trip to the cinema, just don’t expect a
great story.
