A lot has already been written about Disney's Snow White, and barely any of it about the actual movie itself.
It's one thing to be tired about Disney mining their back catalogue for live-action remakes, especially when their latest pick is the groundbreaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, widely considered one of the best animations of all time.
It's another to jump to conclusions and decide that just because Disney has chosen to update the story and the casting, it's clearly an outrage deserving of multiple articles with no relevance to the movie itself. Not to mention the extra coverage explaining the 'controversy', making it more of a thing than it ever should have been.
At least Snow White is finally arriving in cinemas this week, so the discussion can turn to whether or not it's a good movie in its own right. And look, it's not that great, but neither were the live-action remakes of Dumbo, The Lion King and Pinocchio, and they didn't have the same outrage pre-release.
The earliest backlash to Snow White came with the casting of Rachel Zegler, due to her Colombian heritage. Snow White no longer has "skin as white as snow", but the alteration is that she was born during a blizzard and the name a reminder of the strength of her parents.
Purists might balk at such a change from the Disney classic, but it's not like that wasn't an interpretation of the Grimm fairy tale it was inspired by either. In truth, Zegler proves to be the one who almost saves this remake, fully convincing as the innocent princess who believes the best in everyone.
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Zegler manages to both elevate the somewhat-generic new songs – by The Greatest Showman duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul – with her emotive vocal delivery, as well as convince when lumbered with several lines that are variations of, "It just requires faith in each other".
As Snow White's opposite, Gal Gadot is largely fine as the Evil Queen, although she suffers by comparison to other more charismatic live-action versions, including Charlize Theron and Julia Roberts. It's not as fun as it should be to see the Evil Queen deliver a Disney Villain song (new offering 'All Is Fair'), with Gadot not as vocally adept as Zegler, but she's not the major issue either.
It's hyperbolic to say the issues with Snow White come with everything else, but not also a complete mistruth. If Disney were to continue with live-action remakes, there's not an issue with changing things up, even story-wise, but this remake mistakes bigger for better and can't quite break free from the original either.
The most notable change here is that there is no Prince anymore. Instead, it's a loveable rogue called Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), leader of a band of rebels. It's Jonathan who inspires Snow White to be the leader that her father was, and their duet 'A Hand Meets A Hand' is a musical stand-out, but the remake can't find a fresh way to update the 'true love's kiss' angle like, say, Frozen could.
It ends up being a plot expansion that doesn't really go anywhere or one that makes Jonathan a vital part of the story. Perhaps the actually interesting approach would be a Snow White without a love interest, yet for all the updates of the story (including Snow White, shock horror, not cleaning the cottage), the remake still plays it too safe and faithful to the animation.
Snow White doesn't completely break free from the animation with the songs either. 'Heigh-Ho' and 'Whistle While You Work' are the main ones included, yet they've been expanded for this version – and not for the better. Like with the plot, you miss the efficiency of the original songs, and the new, VFX-enhanced, staging pales next to the classic version.
This brings us neatly to the seven dwarfs, the real mistake of this remake over any casting issues. The dwarfs are CGI creations and never escape the uncanny valley issue; Dopey, in particular, is nightmare fuel due to the decision to make him the most child-like. It's a baffling decision for a supposed live-action remake, and one that just doesn't work.
The remake's over-reliance on CGI extends to the general look of the movie too. Despite using practical sets, the 'magic hour' overlit approach robs the setting – and also the strong costume design by Sandy Powell – of any vibrancy.
Despite the strength of Zegler's performance (even in the awkward extended final act which gives Disney remakes their own Martha moment), Snow White ends up caught between trying to do its own thing, but not being radical enough to justify itself. It wants to be the fairest of them all, yet ends up being yet another disappointing remake.
Snow White is released in cinemas on March 21.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
