Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman was captivating to watch just for the way it looked. The story wasn't brilliant and some of the acting sucked, but the visuals made it worth seeing.

I don't think The Huntsman actually had a big enough role to be in the title with Snow White. More aptly, it should've been "The Queen and Snow White." But that doesn't have quite the same ring to it. I was kind of interested in this one, but I don't think I would've followed up on it if I hadn't seen Roeper's review. I don't remember what he said anymore, but I decided it was okay enough to watch. 

I was mostly interested in the visual aspect, and that's the part that paid off. Visually, it's a great movie. A feast for the eyes, if you will. I loved the cinematography, the costumes, the landscapes, the sets, all of it. It didn't all work; some of the camerawork seemed a little pretentious. But for the most part, it was really interesting to watch. I wish I had seen it at the theater.

Kristen Stewart sucked, though. I mean, she's just terrible. She doesn't act. She isn't pretty. Her eyes don't even have a color. It's bizarre. I don't understand why anyone would want to cast her in anything. 

The ending was so anticlimactic, with her panting on the throne for no reason, and then just giving us..nothing.

Charlize was really hamming it up as the Queen. I don't know that I liked that. It was a little too over-the-top. It wasn't believable; it was transparent as acting. Chris Hemsworth did a nice job, though. I like him as Thor, and I liked him as the Hunstman, although it wasn't an entirely different character. Kind of a dopey warrior guy. It was really creepy when they kept kissing the dead Snow White, though. And carrying her around. She's dead! She probably smells! And no one wants to see her feet, put some shoes on her.

The sanctuary forest was cool, but the CG fairies were just way too CG. I liked the dwarves, and that they were all real actors. Nick Frost was the only one I recognized. I thought Ian McShane looked like Al Pacino. I didn't really dig William, but it was a great idea to join the hunting party, and the way he did it was awesome.

I'm partway through the DVD commentary, and I learned an interesting fact. The mirror was gold, because mirrors in medieval times were made out of metal, not glass. So, there you go. I didn't like the milk bath thing. They explained in the commentary that it was milk; she was just doing the whole beauty thing, and kind of trying to be pure. I wasn't sure what the heck it was when I watched the movie, though. It just didn't make any sense.

I like the story of Ravenna, and the idea that she's really just kind of a screwed up person, trying not to be used again, feeling like the only way to keep that from happening is to have power over everyone. She wasn't actually that powerful, though. She made people think she was. When she got stabbed and didn't die, they said "she can't be killed." Not true. She wasn't that strong. If she got stabbed enough times, she wouldn't be able to heal herself. Or if you cut off her head, I'm pretty sure that would be the end of her. They just didn't try hard enough.

I liked the magical aspect to it, though; all the animals were drawn to Snow White because of her pure heart, and the land died when Ravenna ruled over it. I didn't like that Snow White was wearing pants under her dress. It didn't seem logical.

I especially liked the shot of Snow White passed out in the Dark Forest, going up and up, seeing all those trees. They said it was a crane shot. I figured the whole thing was just CG. It's interesting that they actually did that, though; spun a camera around as they lifted it up on a crane. I thought everything in the Dark Forest was great. I liked the troll, and how she didn't have to fight it, she just calmed it down. It was good that she got to save The Huntsman.

I liked that they referenced the apple in the beginning, and that she got to kill the queen using what The Huntsman taught her. It was silly to have Greta regain her youth, though. We didn't need that.

It wasn't anything great in terms of plot, and certainly not in terms of acting, but it was solid eye candy, and it actually bored me the least out of the last four movies I've seen.