Film Name: 白雪公主 / Snow White
You might not believe it, but Disney’s live-action version of “Snow White” is one of the movies I’m most looking forward to seeing in March—not because I’m particularly excited about it, but because it’s bound to be a lot of fun no matter what. As the saying goes, “Watching a good movie is fun, watching a bad movie is entertaining.” Such a rare opportunity is one I can’t afford to miss!
Since the film was announced, over 90% of the controversy has centered on the casting… But after watching the movie, I have to say that casting is just one of the film’s issues. Logical inconsistencies, sloppy storytelling, awkward themes, and a host of other flaws make this film a disaster with no redeeming qualities.
Given that this is such a film, I certainly wouldn’t recommend watching it, but I should add a “spoiler alert” warning. If you don’t mind spoilers, feel free to continue reading.
Since most of the discussion about “Snow White” has focused on Snow White and the Evil Queen, I’ll start with a few brief comments on them.
Having a Latina girl, Rachel Zegler, play Snow White, and having the beautiful Gal Gadot play the Evil Queen, with the latter jealous of the former’s beauty and killing her, is simply untenable and cannot be justified. This directly contradicts common sense, even if the film changes the origin of the name “Snow White” to “born in the snow,” and the magic mirror tries to justify it by saying she is “beautiful on the inside,” it still doesn’t work… At its core, this version of “Snow White” simply doesn’t hold up.
To be honest, I personally don’t care much about the casting, but the film’s actual execution is truly disappointing—Rachel Ziegler isn’t unattractive, but the film’s rigidly literal recreation of the animated version’s Snow White design results in an awkward, second-rate cosplay vibe (see the live-action “The Little Mermaid” from two years ago, which made the already unattractive Halle Bailey look downright ugly—I even suspect the costume/makeup/styling team was intentionally giving up).
Don’t think Gal Gadot is that great in the movie either. The queen only looks good when she first appears with her natural makeup. The “black witch” image that follows is also meant to be ugly, but Gadot’s good looks and the fact that the role accepts a certain degree of ugliness make it bearable.
What I find most unacceptable about “Snow White” is that its musical numbers are all so ordinary and unremarkable! Come on, you’re Disney—musical composition is your signature strength!
Throughout the entire film, there are many musical sequences, but the only ones that truly felt fresh and memorable were the two labor songs performed by the dwarves. The rest of the more substantial songs are completely formulaic. Even the not-so-successful “Disney Centennial Celebration Film” ‘Wish’ from two years ago, in terms of composition and musical quality, is leagues ahead of this “Snow White,” and there’s no need to compare it to last year’s “Wicked,” which shares some similarities in its scene design…
To be honest, if the musical numbers aren’t even enjoyable, there’s no way to be kind to this film, especially since other aspects of it are even worse.
The most fatal flaw of “Snow White” is that it can’t find its own identity, doesn’t know which direction to take, and ends up trying to do everything at once, resulting in a disjointed and unappealing mess.
From the overall structure of the story, the film remains faithful to the original Snow White fairy tale. However, in this day and age, simply copying a fairy tale won’t work, and the challenge arises: should the adaptation be based on a fairy tale logic or a realistic logic?
If the former, then it should adhere to the “innocent and naive” principle, with a touch of modern elements for flavor—just look at how great the 2019 live-action ‘Aladdin’ was. If the latter, then it could go darker and more intense, but Disney princess films have never taken that route… Yet this “Snow White” insists on using both logics simultaneously and deeply intertwined, resulting in a story that defies logic.
For example, the film lacks a prince charming, instead featuring Jonathan, the leader of a band of thieves, who must fulfill the task of “kissing Snow White back to life.” he must develop a romantic connection with the princess. However, to avoid making Snow White appear like a helpless woman in need of a man’s rescue, Jonathan must be inspired by the princess’s spirit to become stronger. To make this plausible, the film adds a series of awkward plot devices, resulting in a disjointed narrative that ultimately pales in comparison to simply introducing a Prince Charming through a deus ex machina.
There’s also the controversial plot point where the evil queen eliminates Snow White. Earlier in the film, she sends hunters to kill Snow White and remove her heart, which clearly indicates that she fully endorses the option of “physical destruction.” Moreover, the queen possesses various advanced magical abilities in the film, so killing Snow White should be a breeze for her.
Why, by the film’s climax, does the queen suddenly opt for the inefficient and risky method of transforming into an old woman and using a poisoned apple to curse Snow White to death? This makes no sense at all.
If the narrative were to follow the logic of a children’s picture book, these plot holes could largely be ignored. However, the film insists on incorporating a host of realistic, box-office-friendly elements into its storytelling, leaving the audience feeling uneasy.
The most disastrous scene is the one at the end where Snow White overthrows the evil queen. I kept thinking, “You’re a destitute princess with nothing but an useless title and a set of idealistic theories about truth, goodness, and beauty. How are you supposed to take on a queen with power, influence, and an army? With just your words?” Turns out, she really did it with just her words.
The film explains that the queen recruited a group of farmers/commoners as her personal guard, granting power to those who previously had none—one of the justifications for her rule. Snow White explicitly rejected the violent overthrow of the queen—which is already absurd in itself—so how does she disarm the queen?
Snow White revealed the names and backgrounds of several soldiers around her, prompting them to reminisce about their past lives and abandon their roles in the queen’s personal guard, returning to their idyllic rural lives.
If you hadn’t mentioned this setting in the first place, it would have been fine, but now you’re making a big deal out of it. This isn’t an adaptation of a fairy tale; it’s nonsense.
In any case, I wouldn’t be surprised or sorry to see this live-action “Snow White” flop at the box office and with critics, as it really has little to recommend it.
Finally, I’d like to recommend a fan-made live-action series I really enjoy called “The Villains Lair,” which produced the wildly popular song “Stepmother’s Tea Party.”
This live-action series features villains from Disney films throughout the ages as its main characters, weaving them together to tell a new story. Though constrained by production budgets, the sets and props are rather modest and can’t compare to Disney’s official works, the creativity, songs, performances, and atmosphere are all highly engaging. characters like the Evil Queen, Mrs. Tremine, Mother Gothel, and Maleficent are all incredibly charismatic. I even recharged my device for this short series… Unfortunately, their update frequency has slowed down in recent years.
Rather than watching increasingly formulaic and uninteresting Disney films, it’s more enjoyable to watch works like this that have more “original creativity.” The fact that works like “The Villains Lair” can stand out proves that the problem has never been the subject matter, but rather the creators who use it.
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