The live action Disney remakes are something of a poison chalice (or should that be apple?) for filmmakers. While they offer a nice payday for any director who signs on, and an almost sure fire hit at the box office to boost ones cinematic cache, it has to be said very few have gone down as good films in their own right. Perhaps most poisoned of all appears to be this update of the 1937 film, Disney's original princess movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The film comes mired in all kinds of controversies. Those who don't like remakes, those angry that a film about seven dwarfs have opted to go the CGI route following backlash from Peter Dinklage, those angry at Peter Dinklage, those angry at Rachel Zegler's skin colour, those angry at Rachel Zegler's comments regarding kissing an unconscious woman being “weird”, those angry at Rachel Zegler's politics, those angry at Gal Gadot's politics, and those angry at Gal Gadot's acting ability. All in all, you could understand if Disney just dumped the film into the waste bin for a tax write off like Warner Bros just to be done with the headache.
Instead, Marc Webb (director of The Amazing Spider-Man films) attempts to bring a modern spin on a classic story. This time, with new songs written by Pasek and Paul, Snow White (Zegler) is given more agency, her romance with Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) more defined, and motivations are clearer.
The film starts off promisingly, opening a fairytale book we get big musical numbers introducing the ideas of being good and fair and kind which lays the table for the central drama when Gadot's ruthless Queen comes into Snow White's life. It has to be said, whatever else is true of these performers. Zegler takes to Snow White well and infuses her with a staunch belief in what is right and wrong, but also a vulnerability. Gadot is good fun as the villain, striking a Vogue-esq pose with every flourish of her long wardrobe. Even Burnap's rebel leader gets to be more than just a hunky dude.
The issue is the dwarves. It's an elephant in the room that has to be discussed. Usually when it comes to this story, films go one of two ways. Either A) you cast regular size actors and use camera tricks and CGI to shrink them down like The Lord of the Rings, or B) you hire actual dwarf actors. Both are problematic. For one, and as Dinklage rightly said, if this is the only role people with dwarfism can get – that and Santa's elves – then it emboldens people to mock them, and to refuse to see them as able to do anything else. But, if you go the other route, you rob actors with dwarfism of guaranteed work. Luckily Disney has found a third, more awful way, by making them CGI monstrosities. What is worse is that not only do these dwarfs look like Toby Jugs with mis-sized bobble heads, but only Doc, Dopey and Grumpy have any personality. Meaning the other four are just beardy weirdos sat in the corner. Moreover, Grumpy is voiced by venerable dwarf actor Martin Klebba, making the choice even stranger. Compound this with the choice to then put an actual actor with dwarfism in the rebel troupe just muddies the water.
This aside, and it's a big aside, the film isn't totally awful. It sets up an artificial world and so the sets and forest feeling fake only add to that vibe. Scenes of the rebels in the forest come across like outtakes from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and that's no bad thing. This isn't the rotten apple of the live action series but it's not a shining beacon either. It's a fairly enjoyable musical romp that has sadly been affected by outside forces that threaten to derail a mediocre film.
It's less hi ho and more ho hum, but it gets the job done.
Snow White is in cinemas from March 21st
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