SNOW WHITE (2025) review
written by: Erin Cressida Wilson
produced by: Marc Platt and Jared LeBoff
directed by: Marc Webb
rated: PG (for violence, some peril, thematic elements, and brief rude humor)
runtime: 109 min.
U.S. release date: March 21, 2025
Out of all the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, Snow White has gotten the most mileage since it was published in 1812. There have been different iterations of the story from different countries, but by far, the most frequent versions have been the tale’s extensive number of film adaptations. The most famous of them all is the 1937 Walt Disney Production, which was the American studio’s first-ever animated feature and would become not only the highest-grossing film of 1938 (it had a limited release in December 1937 and an official one in February 1938) but is considered one of the greatest films ever made, creating the business of feature-length animation, and earning producer Walt Disney an Honorary Oscar. 88 years later, the House of Mouse has added the property to its long list of live-action remakes of their classic animated features, most of them being pointless and unnecessary. That may seem harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts.
Still, I try to remember that one adaptation, remake, or reimagining will always be someone’s first experience with that property. Also, no one purposely sets out to make a bad movie. For the record, “Snow White”, directed by Marc Webb (“500 Days of Summer” and both “The Amazing Spider-Man movies), is not a bad movie. It’s fine, but considering where it comes from, it should be better than that.
The original Disney feature has memorable music within the story that has remained in the pop culture conscience after all these years. But it was still considered a storybook fantasy, not a straight-up musical. While there’s still a fairy tale atmosphere here, this modern update is more akin to a musical with Broadway-like song and dance numbers that open the movie and often propel the plot throughout. The original was also beautifully rendered, artfully influenced by German Expressionism with its wonderful use of light and shadows, this “re-imagining” however doesn’t make take any bold artistic choices, it’s rather the kind of movie that current audiences have become accustomed to.
“Snow White” opens in the titular character’s past, with a musical number set in a content kingdom that revolves around a tall castle where the Good King (Hadley Fraser) and Good Queen (Lorena Andrea) oversee their happy populace. Their daughter, young princess Snow White (Emilia Faucher), is raised in an environment that emphasizes being fearless, brave, true, and fair. These four attributes are so important that they are engraved on a silver necklace gifted to her by her singing parents.
This opening number, “Good Things Grow,” is one of a handful of new songs written and produced by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The duo is also responsible for supplying two new songs for Disney’s 2019 “Alladin” remake (the EGOT winners also contributed to “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman”). It lets us know the type of song-and-dance numbers (choreographed by Mandy Moore, who also worked on “La La Land”) we can expect in this iteration.
Because it has to be in a Disney movie, tragedy strikes when Snow White’s mother dies. It makes no difference to us since she barely had a line of dialogue, and we know the character wasn’t in any previous iteration (not my knowledge, at least). It doesn’t take long for the king to remarry, swooned by a mysterious woman with ulterior motives. She’s more enchantress than she is enchanting and winds up becoming the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), who’s only concerned with power and daily check-ins with her Magic Mirror (voiced by Patrick Page) to see if she remains “the fairest one of all.” She’s an awful stepmother to Snow White, relegating her to sweeping and scrubbing the castle floors. Matters get worse for our princess when the king travels to the south border of the land to lead a campaign against an unknown threat. It’s a great excuse to remove him from the story altogether and an opportunity for the Evil Queen to administer cruel tax hikes and force many of the townsfolk into Royal Guard duties.
One day, Snow White happens upon a thief in the castle, scavenging food for himself and others. His name is Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), and he’ll be the love interest replacing any charming prince – because, although this is fantasy, we can’t have a young maiden pining for a prince by a wishing well. Their meet-cute is interrupted by the Evil Queen and her Huntsmen (Ansu Kabia) henchman, who throws him out into the cold barefoot without a coat. That’ll show him! When the empathetic Snow White frees the floppy-haired hunk, the Evil Queen is enraged as her Magic Mirror informs her there’s a fairer one out there.
Fleeing the Evil Queen, a frightened Snow White escapes into the enchanted forest and is led by friendly animals to a quaint cottage. Exhausted, she finds rest in this remote place until its seven inhabitants return home from digging in the nearby mines. Of course, they are seven dwarves: Doc (Jeremy Swift), Bashful (Tituss Burgess), Grumpy (Martin Klebba), Sleepy (Andy Grotelueschen), Sneezy (Jason Kravits), Happy (George Salazar), and Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman). Snow White befriends the understandably hesitant septet, who boasts CGI-defined faces (think Botox with a dash of Uncanny Valley), with the mute Dopey resembling Alfred E. Newman. They’re won over by Snow White’s kindness, forming an endearing bond with the princess, who will need the support once the Evil Queen ensnares her in a trap after the villain comes knocking in the form of an old hag and an enticing red apple in her wrinkled hand.
Once screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson (who has come a long way since 2000’s “Secretary”) gets most of the characters into the woods, “Snow White” definitely becomes more interesting, but not by much, considering how familiar the story is. Despite a few tweaks here and there, we know where it’s going. Snow White reunites in the woods with handsome Jonathan, who leads a band of motley bandits resembling certain Merry Men from Sherwood. His character is a change to the story that’s different in a good way. The banter between Jonathan and Snow White is the kind of typical flirty sarcasm; it’s nice that both of them are inherently good-hearted, and you can see why there’d be a connection. In the original Disney feature, Snow White sings, “Someday My Prince Will Come” (there is an instrumental version of that song in this movie), and, in a story where wishes come true, a charming prince whom she’s never met before wakes her from a cursed coma with “true love’s kiss.” In this iteration, when Jonathan kisses Snow White in the third act, knowing that the two know each other changes the situation and intent of such a gesture.
The rest of the changes to the story aren’t that good, despite attempting some new elements. Besides turning “Snow White” into a musical fantasy instead of a fantasy with music, Webb and cinematographer Mandy Walker (who also lensed the live-action “Mulan” from 2020), utilize modern technology to provide a more cinematic quality to the story, but it doesn’t always work. A sequence inside the mine finds the camera swooping in and around the jewel-seeking dwarves surrounded by subterranean tiers of earth. Like Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies, it feels too much like a video game and less like something, well, live-action. This is where we’re also shown how the dwarves have some magic power that helps them find jewels in the rock formations… at least, I think. It’s pretty vague and is left unexplored.
The other unsuccessful change is the character of the Evil Queen, who is just not as fearsome or loathsome as the original antagonist, arguably considered one of the greatest Disney villains ever. Gadot is undoubtedly enchanting, but she comes across as miscast here. While she wears the ornate outfits well and has great body language, she’s more annoying than scary, and her attempt at delivering camp falls flat. As for her singing, it’s okay that she doesn’t sound good since she is the villain.
On that note, Zegler is best when she’s belting out one of the new tunes written for the movie. The songs she sings are not as memorable as the original ones (like “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work”), but they’re more about empowerment than they are longing. The emphasis is definitely on her character in this iteration, and it’s interesting to follow Zegler through the character’s arch of self-discovery. Still, I miss the joy that the animated Snow White of the 1937 feature displayed. She had a purity and overall contentment, which is missing here. Zegler’s Snow White is understandably concerned about justice, but it feels like she spends too much time either in that state or one of fear.
“Snow White” has charming highlights, for sure. Webb leans heavily on the romantic plot rather than establish a viable threat. The climax is quite different from the original and quite underwhelming in comparison, going light on musical numbers for predictable confrontation. Despite being unnecessary and lagging in some areas, this “Snow White” mostly connects, offering a new take on an old fable while wishing for blockbuster status.
RATING: **1/2
