‘Snow White’ review: Rachel Zegler did the impossible and made me care about my least favorite Disney princess
3/5 mirrors
Growing up a Disney kid meant our games of make-believe often brought us back to the princesses. We’d all look at each other, label one person a specific princess, and start playing. For me, a brunette child with a bob, everyone made me Snow White. I hated it.
The original animated film, released in 1937, featured a woman with a high pitched singing voice who willingly spent her time cleaning after seven men. She basically sat around, said “oh no I’m too naive to see the issues at hand!” and then had to be rescued. She was not may favorite and I hated the idea of being even slightly compared to her.
So the idea of a live-action version of a story I already didn’t like didn’t appeal to me. What was Snow White going to do for me that Snow White and the Seven Dwarves didn’t? My expectations were low. Somehow though, Rachel Zegler’s performance as Snow White did the impossible: She managed to make me care about Snow White as a character.
Call it my love of Zegler already or whatever you want but the reason this movie works is because Zegler’s compassion and kindness shines through Snow White and allows her character to be led by the warmth in her heart. It never feels cheesy or cheap but instead like a woman who genuinely wants to look to the kindness in all things.
Snow White had agency in her own story, she wasn’t just a caretaker, but instead someone who cared for people and let her heart lead her. This take on the character is brave, proactive, and her kindness shines through every moment Zegler is on screen. But there are parts of Marc Webb’s take on Snow White’s story that don’t work (and others that do).
Gal Gadot on the other hand…yikes
Each and every moment Gal Gadot’s evil queen was on screen I was shocked that I was watching what was, in theory, her best take. Meaning that out of all the takes possible…this is what was chosen? This is what was “best”? There wasn’t one moment where I thought “oh yes that’s good actually.” If anything, the tolerable scenes with Gadot were just okay.
The idea of the evil queen boils down to her obsession with beauty. From the animated film to the live-action, it is all that drive her. Her motivation is completely surrounded by what the mirror says to her about beauty. While Gadot is undeniably beauty, the film itself relies too heavily on that and doesn’t focus on her lack of acting ability in this role.
In previous adaptations, it was clear that part of the evil queen’s ugliness comes from within and that even her outer beauty is destroyed by her desire for it. In the live-action, I cannot tell if Gadot was just not given that direction or if she was attempting to act that out and just doing a bad job of it.
I love the Nick Bottom-ification of Snow White’s “prince”
One of the best parts about this adaptation of Snow White was Andrew Burnap’s Jonathan meeting and falling in love with Snow White. Their relationship made the non-consensual kiss that “saves” Snow White less creepy than the original kiss between Snow White and Prince Florian. I didn’t particularly care about their love story in the original and it played a major part in why I didn’t care for Snow White.
In Snow White, Jonathan and Snow’s relationship is a slow build, has a foundation built on trust, and even have a song that all but gives permission to Jonathan to kiss her awake. But Jonathan’s entire character is a fun addition to the film. Burnap, who has a well known theatre career, uses that to his advantage playing the “actor turned bandit” character.
And his chemistry with Zegler made their love story one that I was invested in instead of one I found creepy, as happened with the original animated film.
Those dwarves were still an odd choice
But even with Zegler and Burnap trying their best to make every second of this film worthwhile, the odd choice to completely animate the dwarves (and seemingly only them and the animals?) weighed heavily on Snow White’s connection to them. It was still sweet when she got Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman) out of his shell or made Grumpy (Martin Klebba) smile and cry. But those almost weren’t enough for the dwarves who did have a significantly less important role in this adaptation.
The animated nature felt off with the lack of CGI elsewhere and sure, it added to their magical qualities, but we also barely get to see them. Maybe that’s why the film dropped the “and the Seven Dwarves” part of the title.
Overall, this movie is sweet. The songs sound like every other Justin Paul and Benji Pasek song but they will still have you smiling while watching the film. But even the lighter moments of Snow White cannot completely balance out the odd choice to give Gal Gadot not one but two musical moments.
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