|
I can't believe I wrote as long a review as I just did, for a movie that's not that great! Well, in this review I ask questions maybe people can answer.
I finally saw this movie. It was fun. And had really awesome sets and costumes, and some really cool special effects. And a really beautiful Snow White. And a really cute prince. And a really nice song at the end, that I love.
I'd say that's really it.
The Queen is not crazy like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, but if only Julia Roberts had been half as good as Helena Bonham Carter in that role. No one in this film was bad but certainly no one was really something to write home about, either. I would say at least that Julia Roberts, the Prince and his servant were the best actors in this film though.
Snow White was one of the most beautiful incarnations I'd ever seen - but pretty much only on the outside. Lily Collins had a few good moments as her, but I didn't find her particularly good or memorable. She wasn't anything like especially endearing, sweet or kind, nor was she especially strong as becoming a conifdent warrior princess who takes back her kingdom.
The Prince was just so adorable and pretty funny, and I actually feel he gave the best line in the film about the stories of princes saving girls, though Nathan Lane's line after he was changed back from a beatle is also the other funniest line.
The dwarfs were...ugh, I felt bad for them, little people that once again are used only for comic relief. They were so silly. Can't the dwarfs be taken seriously with decent back stories and scenes? And impact? But I guess you could say none of the main characters were treated all that seriously.
The story was an interesting one, but they really messed the original tale to the point where it's not really "the Snow White legend" they said they were "bringing to life". I mean, the way Snow White handles the end with the apple was a cool surprise, but...it loses the point of her story. And it was only when they mentioned the beast in the forest that I remember the producer of the film said "there was a dragon in the original folk tale" and I was like...well not in the Grimm's version that you'd call the real Snow White you're basing this on, but...maybe there was a version older than Grimm's that had a dragon. Anyway, the dragon in this film was ultra-cool and pretty scary, though I'm sure if it weren't a family film, it would have been scarier, like I thought Alice in Wonderland's Jabberwocky was. Oh, another attempt to be like that money-making Alice in Wonderland?
The animated opening was really cool, though. And so was that glass egg/magic lantern the Queen used kind of like another mirror, but to watch events unfold. But I don't quite get why this film was called Mirror Mirror when the mirror did not feature as much as I thought it would. It didn't really put the story in motion like it always does. The idea for the mirror was cool, but aside from the mirror being water and Julia Roberts chillingly playing the Queen and her talking reflection, I didn't get what the two huts she went in were about. Why walk into a hut to see your reflection when the mirror itself could have had your reflection? I really wish I knew why the huts were there, actually. Maybe they were her true home, the most pathetic thing compared to a castle? Not to mention very witch-like. But the talking reflection was a lot like the one in Snow White: A Tale of Terror's, and I think some things about that one were better, though some things in Mirror Mirror's were better. Hm... I would have said I didn't get why the mirror wasn't as grand a set piece as everything else in the film, but now I think I get it, it was an old thing a poor witch would have had, like the huts. So she married the king to become rich and powerful.
Speaking of, one thing I must commend this film for is they made a truly wicked Queen in a very realistic way, with what she was doing to the people. It was actually really horrible and could have happened in real life. Too bad it wasn't taken all that seriously, nor was the rest of the film.
Why did the King at the end say "By the power invested in me by...me" to be a joke? As far as I know, kings don't appoint priests or bishops to wed people. That power is invested by God, saying it's invested by the king is innacurate as well as blasphemous. Yea, I know, the film doesn't have to be religious. I don't need it to be, that's not the problem. The problem is it's offensive to mess with someone else's existing religion.
Anyway, I loved the song at the end, though as I said I liked how it sounded it was going to go in the trailer. The article said the song was moved from being the actual ending to just being in the credits, because apparently "the dads" in the audience couldn't stand it, but I think it should have stayed in the ending because not only was it very good and made for a great fun, truly happy and uplifting ending, but it also was the kingdom returning to singing and dancing that the kingdom used to do and Snow White was supposed to return them to! Stupid straight guys in audiences changing things that fit better in films...like Rapunzel's title...
Speaking of straight guys, I had heard this film was aimed at "mothers and daughters" which I didn't want to hear, but after seeing it I think it was aimed at all audience members. But if they were thinking of females specifically, I don't get why Snow White kept getting spanked by the prince's sword. That had to be one of the most degradingly straight-male point of view things to have put in a movie where the heroine is supposed to be respected. If she had spanked him afterward to get him back, it would have been great. But as it was, it seemed like some straight male sexual thing inserted. I know the screenplay was written by a woman but a man is also credited with partly writing it, I feel like some guys added something.
Well, that's all I have to say about this. I don't think it was all cool enough for me to want to buy when it comes to video. Which is sad.
_________________ 
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
