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Film Review
Snow White (2025) — Disney’s unnecessary live-action adaptation fails to balance the new and old
A princess joins forces with seven dwarfs to liberate her kingdom from her cruel stepmother, the Evil Queen.
Snow White’s clunky, exposition-heavy opening introduces the kingdom, Snow White herself (Rachel Zegler), and her wholesome royal parents (Hadley Fraser, Lorena Andrea). Then, a cheery opening song lets you know just how good everything is under this reign. But it all goes wrong when Snow White’s mother dies, and the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) soon steps in and sends her father away to protect the kingdom.
Under the Evil Queen’s rule, poverty and starvation are rife. Snow White is forced to sweep the castle floors while her wicked stepmother hoards food and wealth for herself. And when an intruder, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), breaks into the castle to steal food, Snow White learns about the true horrors happening beyond the walls of her home. This meeting radicalises the young princess and turns her from a downbeat maid into a princess who takes action.
The first act follows the familiar beats of the 1937 Disney animated tale, as the queen asks her Magic Mirror, “Who is the fairest of them all?” Until one day, the Mirror declares that Snow White is the fairest maiden in the land, so the Evil Queen decides to send the Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to kill her. However, overwhelmed by her kind heart, he lets her run to safety, escape the kingdom, and evade the queen’s grasp.
Snow White massively improves once the princess is out of the castle grounds and into the forest, where she’s greeted by adorable CGI animals who point her towards the miners’ cottage. In development, the film was criticised for intending to use actors with dwarfism in the roles, so the studio chose to utilise VFX instead. They were later criticised for putting real actors out…
