Snow White Review: It’s Heigh-No in Marc Webb’s Bland Live-Action Fairy-Tale Musical

Magic mirror on the wall, is Snow White a good movie at all? That’s the question I’ve been having doubts about since Disney decided to cast Rachel Zegler years ago to play the titular Disney princess. Zegler may have come to prominence in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake and she was great in it. But Snow White? The title that defined and ushered the era of Disney animation back in the day and 88 years later, a live-action retelling wanting (us) to suspend (our) disbelief, where Gal Gadot’s Evil Queen is having a grudge over Zegler’s Snow White?

Last time I checked and even revisited the original recently, the animation opens with the Magic Mirror (voiced by Moroni Olsen) describing Snow White to the Evil Queen (Lucille La Verne) as “lips red as the rose [,] hair black as ebony [and] skin white as snow”. The backlash surrounding Zegler’s controversial remark over the 1937 animated classic during 2022’s D23 Expo wasn’t helping either. Then, there’s Peter Dinklage, who was “sort of taken aback” over the casting of actual dwarves — more appropriately, little people — to play the titular seven dwarfs, resulting in the studio CGI-ed the characters instead. The result? They look hideous once the trailer is subsequently revealed. By then, the damages had already been done.

Now that the movie is finally out, maybe Snow White might surprise me instead with at least a decent entry after all. Just like how I was initially sceptical over the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, only to be surprised it wasn’t that bad beyond the race-swapped protagonist. So, in this live-action take on Snow White, Erin Cressida Wilson’s (Secretary, The Girl on the Train) screenplay reimagines the familiar age-old fairy-tale story of the titular character as a fiercely independent princess and even has a different origin of her name as a result from surviving a snowstorm when she was a baby (Olivia Verrall).

The movie retains the core of Snow White’s story, like in 1937 original, escapes from the tyranny of her wicked stepmother Evil Queen and ends up seeking refuge in the forest with the help of the friendly (CGI) wild animals before laying low in a house belongs to the seven dwarfs: Doc (Jeremy Swift), Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman), Bashful (Tituss Burgess), Grumpy (Martin Klebba), Sneezy (Jason Kravits), Happy (George Salazar) and Sleepy (Andy Grotelueschen).

The Evil Queen soon deploys her Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to take Snow White to the apple orchard and kills her when he has a chance. When the Huntsman fails to fulfil his job, she resorts to turning herself into an elderly woman seeking Snow White in the forest. And yes, the poisoned apple is involved but the part where Snow White patiently awaits for Prince Charming to rescue her like the original? Well, that changes significantly with the introduction of a defiant leader of the bandits played by Andrew Burnap as Jonathan, who stays loyal to the Good King (Hadley Fraser) and rebels against the Evil Queen’s iron-fisted ruling.

Marc Webb, a journeyman director who has ventured from romantic comedy (2009’s (500) Days of Summer) to drama (2017’s Gifted and The Only Living Boy in New York) and superhero (the two-part Amazing Spider-Man) genres, approaches his live-action Snow White with a contemporary mindset. This is especially true with Zegler’s steadfast but kind-hearted Snow White isn’t the same damsel in distress seen in the 1937 original. You won’t be hearing her crooning “Somebody My Prince Will Come” like in the original as she is more of a proactive princess who doesn’t mind joining the fight with Jonathan and his merry men of bandits against the Evil Queen’s soldiers at one point in the movie.

Likewise, Zegler’s vocal prowess soars through her singing voices, notably one of the movie’s new songs “Waiting on a Wish”. While she brings a balanced sense of gravitas and whimsy to her character, I can’t help but be distracted by her bob hairstyle meant to emulate the classical appearance of the 1937 original. As much as I appreciate Sandy Powell’s costume design for recreating Snow White’s iconic blue-red-white dress and ankle-length yellow skirt, it looks like it was coming from a store-bought costume. This is especially true with the garish magic-hour lighting and artificial-looking background that makes Snow White’s brightly coloured clothes sadly unflattering.

But nothing comes worse than Disney’s ill-fated decision to introduce CGI dwarves. These dwarves may have their distinct voice personalities (the famously mute Dopey is given a well-deserved, mini character arc) and fans of the 1937 original will be delighted with them singing the classic “Heigh-Ho”.

And yet, their uncanny valley appearances are so glaringly obvious hampered by the digital fakery. Seeing them interact with Snow White and other human actors often ruins the experience of watching Snow White, making me wonder if the hefty budget — reportedly cost around US$240-270 million or more — is barely justified from what is shown on the big screen. I get that the world of Snow White exists in a fairy tale. But there’s nothing truly magical or spellbinding in this movie, thanks to its oddly disconnected visual palette between the combination of the live-action and the CGI/animation hybrid.

Then, there’s the miscast Gal Gadot, whose scenery-chewing moments of playing a cartoonish villain of the Evil Queen come across as both wooden and awkward. She even has a new song called “All Is Fair” but Gadot’s vocal performance is embarrassingly flat and tone-deaf. Come Razzies’ time next year, I won’t be surprised if she lands a nomination in the Worst Supporting Actress category. Andrew Burnap, who plays Snow White’s new love interest Jonathan specially created for the movie, displays sufficient devil-may-care charm to his rebellious character while sharing decent onscreen chemistry with Zegler’s Snow White.

Webb’s overall direction is best described as pedestrian, even with some of the significant changes seen from the second act. The pace tends to be erratic and strangely lacking any real stakes, leading to the underwhelming third act when Snow White finally confronts the Evil Queen. Webb doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp on directing a fairy tale movie, making him more of a work-for-hire rather than a visionary filmmaker that I expected him to be — a far cry from what I’d seen him capable of doing in the two Amazing Spider-Man movies, despite the mixed reviews.

Easily one of the worst Disney live-action remakes I have seen since the lifeless Peter Pan & Wendy, which went straight to streaming on Disney+ — something that Snow White should have belong there in the first place.