Katie Crocker - Associate Editor
The story’s been told time and time again (and will make yet another appearance later this year) yet “Mirror Mirror” re-imagines the fairytale of Snow White with a fresh perspective by embracing the ridiculous. And Director Tansen Singh spins the classic romance with some fun, unconventional twists that have more grit than Disney and more humor than Grimm.
The story follows the classic tale of the conceited Queen (Julia Roberts), who rules the kingdom with an iron fist of greed and is determined to get rid of the beautiful Snow White (Lily Collins) who poses a threat to the Queen’s own vanity. So, as the story goes, she sends Snow White into the woods, ordering her death. And while the Queen figures her nemesis for dead, she schemes to marry The Prince (Armie Hammer) for his riches and toned chest. Meanwhile, deep in the woods, the exiled and very much alive Snow White (Lily Collins) teams up with thieving dwarfs to take back control of her birthright and restore prosperity to the kingdom with a little martial arts and swordplay.
The film is light, it’s fun, it’s ridiculous and it plays into every facet of the film. It isn’t afraid to make fun of itself and wink at the genre. Everything is purposefully over the top, including Snow White’s innocence, the vanity of the Queen, and most noticeably the gleaming tooth of the quintessential Prince played by Armie Hammer. And it’s all exemplified by the large, bright costume design beautifully done by Eiko Ishioka, which at times says more than the characters do and gives a large flair of dramatics to the fantasy world and brings it to life.
The only drawback is that the humor is heavily scripted and the jokes are designed to hit all the right marks, so, at times, it feels a little too tightly played, but Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer and the dwarves easily reel you back in with something you can’t help but smirk or smile at.
We’ve all seen and heard “Snow White” countless times, so there’s something to be said for a film that can deliver a fun, new rendition and make you fall in love with the story all over again.
