Two film critics, three movies, thirty seconds! Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as me and myself review three movies in less time than it takes to chew a stick of Doublemint gum! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about twofold De Niros in “The Alto Knights,” the return of “Snow White” and the dramedy “Bob Trevino Likes It.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Snow White,” a mostly live action adaptation of the 1937 Disney classic, now playing in theatres, a princess attempts to free her kingdom from her stepmother’s tyranny.
CAST: Rachel Zegler, Emilia Faucher, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Andrew Barth Feldman, Tituss Burgess, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, Jeremy Swift, Andy Grotelueschen, Ansu Kabia, Patrick Page, George Appleby, Colin Michael Carmichael, Samuel Baxter, Jimmy Johnston, Dujonna Gift-Simms, Hadley Fraser, Lorena Andrea, Idriss Kargbo, Jaih Betote, Freya Mitchell, Zoë Athena, Dean Nolan, Jonathan Bourne, Luisa Guerreiro, Adrian Bower, Felipe Bejarano. Directed by Marc Webb.
REVIEW: For a film that has generated so much controversy and cultural debate in the weeks and months leading up to its release, “Snow White” is rather bland. A mostly live-action remake of the classic 1937 animated film, it’s a mix of new and old.
In the old column you have the basic story of Snow White (Rachel Zegler), an evil stepmother and seven helpers who help protect the title character. There’s also familiar songs like “Whistle While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho,” the latter of which is given a treatment that feels like a template for an amusement park ride, an Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) who is as obsessed with herself as any ten TikTok influencers combined, a poisoned apple and an on-the-lam Snow White (Rachel Zegler) who still finds refuge with the Seven Dwarfs.
The new stuff includes Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), a Robin Hood style rebel character who replaces the traditional prince and new songs by the “Dear Evan Hansen” duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
The biggest story shift comes with the portrayal of the title character. No longer a damsel in distress, in 2025 Snow White is a leader, a go-getter with a Power to the People dream, rather than dreaming of love.
Director Marc Webb manages a balance between the new and old elements, but, despite Zegler’s impressive vocal abilities, some lively choreography and vibrant set design, the result is more Ho Hum than Hi Ho.
The new tunes, like “Waiting on a Wish” and the villain theme “All Is Fair” are tuneful enough but lack personality when placed side-by-side to the classic songs by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey. Zegler has the pipes and sells the heck out of her solos with vibrant theatre kid energy, but you won’t leave the theatre whistling anything other than “Whistle While You Work.”
Near the beginning of “Snow White” the forest near the castle is described as “a place where magic still abides.” It’s too bad the same can’t be said about the movie.
When one thinks about movie princesses a few names come top of mind: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle. This fab four have come to define what being a movie princess is all about. Or at least they used to.
Once upon a time a movie princess was a damsel in distress, swathed in pink and jewels, waiting for Prince Charming to come to the rescue.
Lately, however, the movies have given us a different kind of princess, one who is more into grrrl-power than girly-girl.
Related:
Scotland — home of the Brave, land of the castles
Mark Andrews, the co-director of this weekend’s cinema release Brave, the story of a Celtic princess who rebels against her mother, calls the movie’s lead character “an anti-princess.”
“She’s an active and action-oriented person,” he says. “She wants to get out in the outdoors of the Highlands, escaping from castle life and exploring the woods.”
Brave isn’t the first movie to shatter the stereotype of the pretty pink princess.
According to Roger Ebert, Ariel, the teenage mermaid princess of The Little Mermaid, “is a fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny.”
In other words, she still marries her prince charming, but for the first time a Disney princess gave a lesson in independence and had a hand (or fin) in deciding her fate.
The success of that movie led to a new batch of princesses who were empowered and could look after themselves and others.
Pocahontas was an adventurous princess who put her own life at risk to stop a war between her people, the Powhatans, and the British settlers, and the fiery Mulan broke gender boundaries by enlisting in the army and saving China from total devastation at the hands of the Huns.
Jasmine, the daughter of the wealthy Sultan of Agrabah and the princess at the heart of Aladdin, didn’t fight off invaders but she did do something that made her unique in the Disney princess world.
Tired of life in the royal palace, instead of waiting for rescue, the independently minded noblewoman made her own way, even deciding to marry a commoner rather than a prince.
But not all anti-princesses are animated.
The recent mega-flop John Carter featured Martian
Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who, despite falling for the prince charming title character, was also a warrior and a scientist who wasn’t afraid to stand up for things she believed in.
