Hi everyone!
Hope you've all had a good weekend. I certainly did as I gear up for my 'move' out to Colorado in just over a week. I'm giving myself the summer to get situated out there. My brother lives in Dillon which is about 70 miles outside of Denver, smack dab in the middle of the mountains and ski country. It's beautiful up there but as I am more of an urban person, I'm looking at staying in Denver/Boulder area though I will be living with my bro for the time being. I can't wait. I've lived in and around Chicago most of my life. It's time to get out of the Midwest!
"Snow White and the Huntsman" is the surprisingly rather excellent adaptation of the classic Grimm Brothers fairy tale. The movie has more in common with "Game of Thrones" than Disney's animated classic and it's so much the better for that. First of all, kudos must be given to the director Rupert Sanders in his feature film debut. The film's two-hour running time skips along at a breathless pace, idling only briefly for a visually rapturous sequence in an enchanted garden replete with fairies, bizarre flora and fauna, and a multi-antlered white hart, not to mention Bob Hoskins and Ian McShane leading the charge as Snow White's seven dwarfs.
From start to finish, "Snow White" is a stunner. From the dark and Gothic confines of Queen Ravenna's (Charlize Theron) throne room to the terrifying blackness of the haunted forest, everything about this production is meant to keep your eyes glued to the screen and gasping at the magnificent wonder of it all.
The visual effects rival anything James Cameron came up with in "Avatar" -- albeit without the 3D element, which frankly is rather refreshing. The battle scenes are epic and brutal (without being particularly bloody, hence its audience-friendly PG-13 rating) and the performances by-and-large are more than adequate. Special commendation must go to Charlize Theron, whose evil Queen is the nastiest piece of work I've seen on-screen in quite some time. She almost (but not quite) dethrones "Game of Thrones" Queen Cercei (a fabulously icy and somewhat vulnerable Lena Headey). I'd love to see the two of them in a battle to the death! Chris Hemsworth ("Thor" and "The Avengers") as the titular Huntsman is terrific as well and manages to bring an understated bit of levity to the rather gloomy proceedings.
And Kristen Stewart? As one critic said in his review, her acting ability doesn't live up to her box office appeal. I have to agree with him, though Ms. Stewart delivers what's required of her here as Snow White. Fortunately, the surrounding ensemble and production values distract from what is a rather one-dimensional leaden performance. As in the "Twilight" franchise, it seems Ms. Stewart possesses only one facial expression and her line deliveries are equally bland especially when compared to Ms. Theron's evident passion for the material. Still, the overall film is so good that I can give Ms. Stewart a passing grade though in future I'd recommend more acting lessons.
A cautionary note: this is NOT a film for children. I can imagine it being terrifying for any child under the age of twelve and the hint of incest that creeps into the second half of the film, while being more suggestive than overt, is definitely not appropriate for kids.
"Snow White" proved itself to be a hit at the domestic and international box offices this weekend, assuring it a place in movie theaters around the world for some time to come. For a quality summer blockbuster, "Snow White and the Huntsman" will be hard to beat...
...at least until Ridley Scott's eagerly anticipated "Prometheus" opens on Friday...
Ciao.
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