Snow White is the latest Disney animated feature to get the live action remake treatment.
Film review by Jason Wright
Disney’s Snow White keeps the basics of the original story from 1937 but adds a few new elements to keep it fresh. I must admit, not all these new elements and plotlines work. There are moments that felt unneeded and a bit cringe but then there are new moments that feel sweet and endearing.
There is one new plotline involving Dopey, one of the seven dwarfs, where he feels too afraid to speak up and feels outcast. Dopey has a few bonding moments with Snow White, which I felt was very touching and the writers could have added some further development throughout the story.
However the same, sadly, cannot be said about Johnathon played by Andrew Burnap, (Johnathan is a good character and Andrew does play him really well) however his whole plotline about being a Robin Hood-type character wasn’t really necessary and doesn’t add much to the story. Not to mention his song Princess Problems feeling useless as he changes his mind straight after singing it, so what was the point?
Speaking of singing, the film uses two old classics with a few new ones added, written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (THE GREATEST SHOWMAN). The old songs have a new twist to them, mainly Heigh-Ho. To me, this song was more fun to bop my head to in the cinema, and I may or may not have sung along. Sorry. Then there’s Whistle While You Work, by Racheal Zegler. This song is a fun song to sing along with too, and hopefully encourage children to help their parents around the house with a few laughs in the song.
There are new song additions, mainly being Waiting on a Wish, which I felt was a very welcome addition to my Disney music playlist. Rachel sang this song beautifully; you could feel her passion in this song.
Moving on to the cast. I am aware of the backlash and controversy surrounding the casting of Racheal Zegler as Snow White. Racheal, to me, was a wonderful Snow White, she was charming, sweet and very endearing much like her animated counterpart.
Gal Gadot plays the evil queen, this to me was the weakest casting choice. I just didn’t feel it in her acting, especially bouncing off of Racheal Zegler. Now look, I like Gal Gadot, especially as Wonder Woman, but I just didn’t feel this role was for her, and her villain song felt quite weak in my opinion.
Andrew Burnap plays Jonathan, the kingdom’s Robin Hood-type character. Andrew was a great watch as Jonathan and very funny too. The way he develops to be less selfish throughout the film was nice to watch and he had great chemistry with Racheal.
The seven dwarfs. Each dwarf is just as lovable as they were in the animation. Dopey gets the most time to shine and the most character development and growth. My gosh, you will fall in love with Dopey, he’s so cute, and a blast to watch. Especially with his chemistry with Snow White.
To conclude, Disney’s Snow White is far from the best live action remake. It is still fun and a good film to take your kids to during the Easter Holidays. It really is worth a watch.
My overall rating is a solid 7/10.
Pic: ©Disney
