Snow White and the Hunstman

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/snowwhiteandthehuntsman/

So far this film has a few negative points, and a few positive.

The positive:

Director Rupert Sanders (been a fan of his Halo commercials and other works for a long time)
Writer Hossein Amini (drive)
Charlize Theron
A kick-ass trailer

The Negative:

Kristen Stewart (this can be seen as four negatives, putting us at a tie)


I love the trailer, but I feel like the reason they don't have Stewart uttering a single word in the trailer is they don't want to risk losing sales. Even Thor has a word or two. Maybe, just maybe, with the right director and writer Stewart may not be so bad. I can only hope... or she may ruin the entire film.
 
Had absolutely zero expectations or interest in this, but I thought that trailer was borderline fantastic... and considering this his Rupert Sanders first feature, he already appears to have fully justified his paycheck. Agree the inclusion of the Stewart dampens the mood somewhat, but will definitely be keeping an eye on this.
 
Who know's she might die in the first 5 minutes after eating the apple. I call it the 'Steven Seagal in "Executive Decision" effect'.
 
Coming off the back of Twilight series she was a no- brainer for the studio. But so far the pros seem to be nicely outweighing the cons.
 
I'm actually kinda excited about this one. The big fear, obviously, is Stewart. Not much else to say there; it will turn out one way or another.

But the film looks pretty spectacular in other areas -- almost like Ridley's "Robin Hood" (2010) -- and the involvement of DRIVE writer Hossein Amini and director Rupert Sanders (who earned recognition for the amazing live-action trailer for HALO below) leads me to believe the film will turn out great. Also, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron alone make it worth watching. It is curious, though, that the first trailers for both Snow White adaptations focus almost entirely on the Queen...

 
I just don't see how they are going to convince me that Kirsten Stewart is more beautiful than Charlize Theron, which is a problem when your whole plot depends on it.
 
Batutta said:
I just don't see how they are going to convince me that Kirsten Stewart is more beautiful than Charlize Theron, which is a problem when your whole plot depends on it.
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From the trailer: "You are the fairest, but there is another destined to surpass you." - Magic Mirror.

Or maybe suspension of disbelief is in high expectation. <grin>
 
I think Kristen Stewart is an excellent actress. Has anyone seen Fierce People? Or the Runaways?

If you read the twilight books you'll realize that Bella IS awkward and odd and shuffling and that Kristen Steward nails her in the movies. That doesn't mean I like those films, I really don't. But I think Kristen Stewart is going to show us good things.

As far as Huntsman...I'm sure I'll see it, I see everything, but right now, 'meh' is my response.
 
So I finally got around to seeing it. It's almost exactly as I expected.

Charlize Theron was phenomenal.

The characters were so so (some were 1-dimensional).

Kirsten Stewart was awful and almost ruined the whole thing single handedly.

Rupert Sanders really wowed me as a first time director. He really understands mood and atmosphere, which is why I liked him since his commercials. Can't wait to see what else he directs.
 
Batutta said:
I just don't see how they are going to convince me that Kirsten Stewart is more beautiful than Charlize Theron, which is a problem when your whole plot depends on it.
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LOl...I have to laugh at this. My 11 year old daughter and I were having this same discussion. We both agree Charlize Theron is beautiful even when she's not trying (there was this one movie though.....) and Kirsten Stewart...as Snow White...more pretty than the Charlize??...no way.... They could have at least put some makeup on Charlize to "uglify" her a bit so that we could be convinced on...her..umn lacking in beauty vs Kirsten... But...I'm afraid when I go see this movie that I'd be rooting for the witch because MAN...there aint an ugly bone on her body. :) (BTW...both are very good actresses).
 
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Saw this the Monday after it opened. Thought it was kinda "meh," even closing on s--tty. The story was entertaining enough, but kinda felt like they could've taken it so much further. Theron was handled horribly: she was giving a Broadway performance for the silver screen; her constant yelling and mood swings (the first half of a sentence was played straight, and then the second half was played wilder than Hellen Keller). Since Theron is a fantastic actress, I can only assume this happened because Sanders didn't know how to handle a star like that.

The cinematography was great. The battle scenes were pretty pathetic, which was probably the biggest disappointment after all those commercials showing the knights smashing up those demon armies -- and then that turns out to be some tiny scene in a retarded prologue. The whole dwarf controversy (replacing real dwarf actors' faces with name "regular size" actors) was a little disappointing. I'm all for artistic liberty, but given the number of amazing dwarf actors out there, is it really necessary to take one of the most opportunity-filled movies away from actors who have to struggle for roles that don't involve being comedic relief?

I actually think Kristen Stewart is a pretty attractive girl, and while Theron is definitely a goddess, they did a good job with the whole "Oh my god, if I use my magic, it turns me ugly!" thing. I also think Hemsworth needs to speak a bit more clearly. He spoke perfectly fine in The Cabin in the Woods, but in Thor and this movie both, he sounds like he's just not opening his mouth at all...

Overall, a pretty big disappointment for me.

-JMT
 
Michael Traven said:
Saw this the Monday after it opened. Thought it was kinda "meh," even closing on s--tty. The story was entertaining enough, but kinda felt like they could've taken it so much further. Theron was handled horribly: she was giving a Broadway performance for the silver screen; her constant yelling and mood swings (the first half of a sentence was played straight, and then the second half was played wilder than Hellen Keller). Since Theron is a fantastic actress, I can only assume this happened because Sanders didn't know how to handle a star like that.

The cinematography was great. The battle scenes were pretty pathetic, which was probably the biggest disappointment after all those commercials showing the knights smashing up those demon armies -- and then that turns out to be some tiny scene in a retarded prologue. The whole dwarf controversy (replacing real dwarf actors' faces with name "regular size" actors) was a little disappointing. I'm all for artistic liberty, but given the number of amazing dwarf actors out there, is it really necessary to take one of the most opportunity-filled movies away from actors who have to struggle for roles that don't involve being comedic relief?

I actually think Kristen Stewart is a pretty attractive girl, and while Theron is definitely a goddess, they did a good job with the whole "Oh my god, if I use my magic, it turns me ugly!" thing. I also think Hemsworth needs to speak a bit more clearly. He spoke perfectly fine in The Cabin in the Woods, but in Thor and this movie both, he sounds like he's just not opening his mouth at all...

Overall, a pretty big disappointment for me.

-JMT
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Use actors and create dwarves however you wish as a director. Dwarves are not real. Little people are real, and this was not a movie about Little People.

I think the complaint would be somewhat legitimate if the movie were a drama about little people, and they used actors to play little people. That would be similar to making a movie about African Americans, and putting white people in black face to play the African Americans (EXCEPT of course for Tropic Thunder which was supposed to be a white guy playing a black guy).

But Dwarves? they arent' little people, they are dwarves. Like a magical race that is not human. Unless you can actually find Dwarves that arent' human, the "controversy" is silly.
 
Ian-T said:
But...I'm afraid when I go see this movie that I'd be rooting for the witch because MAN...there aint an ugly bone on her body.
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Because we live in a modern age, and look deeper than the skin, one could conjecture that part of the Mirror's evaluation of 'Beauty' would be based on the psyche as well...

So, if looks counts 99%... and psyche 1%... then Sneewittchen wins, by at least a nose...

Just as an aside, the 1812 published tale from the Brothers Grimm, it was The Mother who was the jealous beauty, and jealous of her own daughter. By 1857 the 'final' and most frequently used edition... the 'good mother' dies, to be replaced by the evil stepmother...

Unfortunately this movie version follows the 1857 and it is the evil stepmother who is the antagonist.

Otherwise I liked the adaptation and modernization... I thought Kirsten Stewart redeemed her self from the insipid Twilight Zone...
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
Because we live in a modern age, and look deeper than the skin, one could conjecture that part of the Mirror's evaluation of 'Beauty' would be based on the psyche as well...

So, if looks counts 99%... and psyche 1%... then Sneewittchen wins, by at least a nose......
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He he... true true.... I was just having a shallow moment. In fact....some of the meanest girls I grew up with were the prettiest on the outside.

....oh ...wait...my perception might be a bit skewed due to constant rejection. :)
 
I enjoyed the movie well enough. The highlight of the film was definitely Theron, but I was also very impressed with Sander's use of mood. It's obvious he comes from the commercial world and he definitely has a long way to go with character development and story, but his visual style is already well developed. I look forward to his future work.
 
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