What good is the idea of whimsy? This question is one that I pondered by the end of Snow White, Disney’s new live action adaptation, which has a lot of what we’d perceive as whimsy. The movie hits all the cute buttons, tries its darndest to update the story, and employs a lead who can sing. But it never quite manages to make all of its elements come together, the cute moments lead to grating one, the story updates actually remove some bite, and Rachel..well she’s pretty excellent. Too bad the movie around her can’t match up.
Snow White chronicles the familiar story of the titular princess who comes under attack from the Evil Queen. AFter escaping the kingdom, Snow White comes upon the company of the seven dwarves who give her shelter. In turn she helps brighten their lives. New to this tale is Jonathan, a charming bandit who replaces the original love interest Prince Charming, but nevertheless is equally smitten with Snow White. All of the characters must react to the Evil Queen’s tyranny and find the courage within to fight to save the kingdom.
This new Snow White adaptation has the unfortunate problem of being the third major live action adaptation we’ve gotten. While Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman premiered over a decade ago, their shadow looms extraordinarily large over this one. Each film has tried to update the story for the modern age and Snow White’s changes for the most part do. However, just because the plot has been updated, doesn’t mean it’s interesting. Snow White and the Huntsman faced this problem in that in making the film so visceral they forgot to give Snow much to do. Our heroine in this tale gets plenty to do and Rachel Zegler acquits herself very nicely in the role, even if everything felt so incredibly sleight. It made me long for the approach Mirror Mirror took in letting Snow get in the mix in a more active way without sacrificing the character’s femininity or kindness.
But perhaps most crucially, both of those previous adaptations have Oscar winners playing the Evil Queen. Gal Gadot, for all the fun her musical number is, just does not elevate anything in this film. She’s neither menacing or conniving, and the script doesn’t let her do much that’s interesting or challenges her to move beyond a few set faces. Disney has done incredible work breathing life into their live action villains, but miss the mark here.
Luckily for viewers, there is some good inside the movie. Every time the dwarves are on screen, the movie gets a much needed jolt of energy and whimsy. They give the film its much needed heart, the zippiest jokes, and Dopey especially was a delight. This new adaptation also has a sense of visual whimsy in the production design department and Marc Webb does stage some beautiful musical numbers.
For all its fanciful flights, the movie’s visual care seemed to stop before the doors of the costume department. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Cinderella’s live action film and it’s extremely depressing to see just how far we have regressed in the costuming of the Disney films. Snow White contains lots of bright colors, but very few interesting silhouettes, fabric choices, or frankly characterizations. Chief among them might be Gal Gadot’s Evil Queen, who’s already bad performance gets dragged down by wardrobe so cheap looking that I almost felt sorry for her. Andrew Burnap, a fine love interest for this tale, is also saddled with a silly costume that does nothing for the character and gets an even more infuriating update at the end of the movie.
Much has been made on the internet regarding the additional songs from Pasek and Paul and while they mostly work, I was left longing for a more cohesive sound palette that matched the original songs. Longing is a feeling you’ll certainly be experiencing during this film – longing for better costumes, longing for better performances, and longing for a more cohesive movie.