'Snow White' review: Rachel Zegler can’t salvage Disney’s rigid live action remake
Courtesy of Disney
Let’s get this out of the way right now: the problem with “Snow White,” Disney's latest remake that swaps the vibrant, bright, and colorful 2D animation for drab flesh and bone, is not lead actress Rachel Zegler. Much has been made of the vitriol from online trolls who lamented the casting of a Latina actress in the titular role, which I always find laughable. Why, after all, do mostly white men—sitting in their mothers’ basements—suddenly care about the casting of a Disney princess in a movie made for children? It’s the same issue with Halle Bailey in “The Little Mermaid,” where the outrage stemmed from a woman of color playing the iconic role of Ariel.
No, the problem with Marc Webb’s meandering live-action update of the 1937 animated classic lies in just about everything else. From the baffling decision to avoid casting real people and instead insert uncanny, CGI versions of the seven dwarfs, to Gal Gadot’s near-soap-operatic performance as the Evil Queen, which almost veers into so-bad-it’s-good territory, “Snow White” is overflowing with artificiality. There’s some lavish production design, flashy costumes by Sandy Powell, and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul deliver at least one certified banger on the soundtrack (“Waiting on a Wish”), but it’s hard not to be distracted by the, forgive the reference, dopey visual effects and the film’s overly saturated look.
These remakes always seem to face a delicate balancing act, and none more so than “Snow White.” A cartoon that predates World War II is bound to have some elements that feel, let’s say, out of touch (there’s a reason “Seven Dwarfs” was removed from the title). Screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson had to navigate the fine line between honoring the original and avoiding backlash for “wokeness.” In the grand scheme of things, this shouldn’t matter. Even when these films are decent (“Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” and, to a lesser extent, “The Little Mermaid”), there’s still a sinking, depressing feeling of “How did it come to this?” I often say we get the movies we deserve. The general public will complain about these remakes getting made but then won’t support original films, which is how we end up with things like blue Will Smith and, uh, “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
In this “Snow White,” Wilson and Webb have reimagined Snow White not as a princess waiting for a knight in shining armor, but as a headstrong leader trying to take back her kingdom from her evil stepmother (Gadot), who rules with ruthless tenacity. Like the cartoon, she enjoys standing before that pesky “mirror mirror on the wall” and hearing that she’s the “fairest of them all.” Gadot, who stirred her own controversy during production, seems like she’s in a completely different movie, delivering line readings that are unintentionally laughable. The script doesn’t lean into her campiness, but it’s unclear if that would’ve helped either. Andrew Burnap is fine as the plucky bandit Jonathan, who obviously falls for Snow White, though he could’ve taken a few notes from the Jonathan Bailey school of charm.
Then, of course, there’s the film’s use of CGI for its woodland creatures and, most egregiously, the seven dwarfs. It’s a baffling decision when you consider that every other character in the movie is played by an actual human. It becomes difficult to stay invested in the story when all you can focus on is how unrealistic Doc’s wrinkles are or how deeply unsettling Dopey’s facial expressions come across. It’s a lot to take in, and perhaps it should be the poster child for why these remakes are a bad idea.
But Zegler deserves all the praise. She brings the warmth and presence that a Disney princess requires—qualities that should resonate with audiences globally. She’s the real deal and the only salvageable element in this stiff remake. Perhaps the reason to venture into live-action territory is to infuse these beloved characters with emotional gravitas that cartoons can sometimes struggle to provide—a connection that transcends the screen. Zegler seems to be the only one capable of conjuring even the slightest hint of sincerity, while everyone else falters in her shadow. This remake may not be the fairest of them all (not by a long shot), but Zegler sure is.
Grade: C
SNOW WHITE is now playing in theaters.