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Reviewing Disney’s latest controversial remake
Over the last decade, Disney has brought many of their originally animated movies to life with live-action remakes. There have been multiple Disney princess remakes as well as original stories created from formally animated characters. However, Disney’s most recent release,the highly anticipated “Snow White,” has become the most judged and controversial by far.
“Snow White” released in theaters on March 21st and was immediately hit with backlash and criticism. The $240 million budget movie has only received $169 million at the box office and a score of 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, according to Max Ruscinski at Screen Rant. These statistics have sparked rumors of Disney pausing the production of one of their current live-action projects, “Tangled.” Many fans and critics had their grievances to share about “Snow White” online.
“The timeless classic, a groundbreaking achievement for animation, has been turned into another pointless and awkward live-action automaton that vanishes from your mind the second it’s over,” Johnny Oleksinski said in a review for the New York Post.
Another critic takes a hit at the film’s lack of essence.
“This muddled production will be enjoyed more by politics and cinema students than by children who are hoping to be enchanted by Disney magic,” Nicolas Barber said in a review for BBC.
Putting press issues and controversy aside, I believe that this movie was set to fail from the beginning. Many grew up watching the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” as the film was released in 1937, nearly one hundred years ago. Issues surrounding politics, gender, racism, movie production and how to remake an iconic film were not an issue. The world has greatly changed, and so the new adaptation of this story could’ve never fit into everyone’s various expectations.
After reading a generous amount of negative opinions on social media, I went to the movie theater to review the film myself. Though I understand much of everyone's judgments, I did not find the film unpleasant to watch. Yes, I am aware that I am playing devil's advocate, but it is true.
To start, Rachel Zegler’s performance as Snow White did not infringe on any classic aspects of the film, but was surprisingly refreshing to see. Many Disney fans blame the success of the Disney princess live-action movies on the actresses who portray them. However, Zegler’s singing and acting was not only beautiful, but enchanting like a real Disney princess. Her portrayal of this famous character was captivating in a new, modern light and was remarkably charming.
With the original film being released in 1937, Zegler’s performance accurately reflected the changes in society over the past 88 years. Her modern singing style shows how music has progressed since the thirties, becoming more full then soft. Snow White’s sense of self valued over dependency on a prince to come save her. Her age and appearance focus more on finding beauty within rather than appealing to conventional beauty standards.
Continuing on this line of difference, “Snow White” has a different love interest compared to the prince in the original movie. Not only does he actually have a known name, Jonathan, but his character contains depth and background that the original prince did not have. Johnathan’s replacement of the original prince gave the film a more coherent storyline. He is the captain of a gang of rebels going against the Evil Queen, and his love story with Snow White builds from the beginning of the movie as they have multiple encounters compared to hardly any in the original. And as I’m sure many are happy to hear, the age of the two characters was sensible compared to the controversial age gap of the 1937 original movie.
To my surprise, I had only positive things to say about other aspects of this film, such as the newly added songs, iconic scenes and the ending. The famous song, “Someday My Prince Will Come,” was replaced with “Waiting on a Wish,” focusing more on the encompassing themes of the film rather than a young girl waiting around for a prince who no longer exists in this adaptation. All of the other new songs added to the movie’s cheerful energy while keeping the warmth and fun of the classic tunes.
Though I respect the audience's complaints about altering certain famous parts of the original film, “Snow White” kept many iconic scenes, including the wishing well, Dopey’s diamond eyes and the Evil Queen’s dramatic descendant into her lair. Regardless of added or changed factors, I think the movie did a proper job of keeping what made Snow White, Snow White.
And of course, the ending. I was happily satisfied with it. It wasn’t as crazy as critics made it sound, but seemed fitting compared to a prince whisking away a princess to his kingdom, abandoning her own. The detailed dynamic of the Evil Queen and Snow White throughout the film made the ending standoff come full circle, yet logical as well.
Though the film was not as horrible as expected, I do believe that a simple solution to everyone’s diverse critiques is to not make more live-action films. Regardless of how good or bad each has been, Disney fans would rather have new projects, featuring new characters and stories rather than changing the ones they grew up with.
We can not change the past when these movies were created, but we can work to create new films that encompass the importance of today.
