The latest live-action remake of a beloved animated classic, Disney’s Snow White revisits the studio’s first-ever feature, and the initial reviews claim it does a good job of honoring the original while updating its story favorably. One huge highlight of this Marc Webb-helmed redo of 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is Rachel Zegler, who stars in the title role while Gal Gadot embodies the Evil Queen. Gadot’s reception is mixed, however, as are the CGI Dwarfs.
Here’s what critics are saying about Disney’s Snow White:
As it turns out, this is one of the better live-action adaptations of a Disney animated feature. And I say that as someone who mostly doesn’t like them.
It is far from a disaster. It’s one of the better ones, in fact.
Few of Disney’s live-action remakes have been worthwhile, but by centering the fight for kindness in the face of adversity, Snow White channels the very best of them: Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 take on Cinderella.
Snow White doesn’t quite crack the top-tier… but it lands solidly in the upper end of the spectrum, alongside movies like Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, and Cruella.
The fairest of them all? Not quite, but it is certainly not the worst remake.
I would rather rewatch this Snow White than the 1937 flick.
Snow White is more clearly made for children than most of the other Disney live-action remakes, and its focus on being a fairytale helps with that goal.
It represents a new low for cultural desecration and for a venerable 102-year-old entertainment company that now looks at its source material with a pinched nose of disgust.
Here’s the biggest change from the animated version: Snow White has been activated as a character driving the action. This will not be for everyone.
The difference lies in the narrative refinement, which Webb balances well without breaking any nostalgic connection.
[There is] more depth to the dynamic of [the Snow White and Evil Queen] relationship that was never fully developed in the original movie.
The filmmakers have given the heave-ho to “Someday My Prince Will Come.” This makes literal sense, since the prince is no longer a character. But what a song to lose! There’s a haunting magic to it, and that layer of magic isn’t there in the new Snow White.
So much of what you see isn’t necessarily ripped from the original film as… better movies in the Disney or musical landscape.
For those film fans willing to embrace the most obvious updates and upgrades to a story over 200 years old, Snow White will likely please.
Disney purists probably won’t like it, but if you go in without any expectations or prejudice, it is an enjoyable experience overall, and little ones who know nothing about the 1937 animated classic will most likely love it!
You can feel the strain of trying to appeal to everyone, court both the purists and the pro-modernization contingent, be as non-offensive as possible — and still manage to satisfy next to no one.
(Photo by Disney)
It’s been 13 years since Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror drank this movie’s milkshake. Neither of those other films are great but they both have a consistency of tone, a memorable villain, and creative choices worth celebrating.
It’s basically in the unhappy tradition of revisionist-lite reboots Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman… The only decent revival has been Pablo Berger’s surrealist Blancanieves from 2013.
It’s gorgeous to look at with some great throwback production design.
The movie is alive with warm colors in the peaceful forest glades and the dwarfs’ thatched-roof cottage and draped in brooding shadows inside the palace or during Snow White’s terrifying first encounter with the woods.
The stunning costumes, real sets, musical choreography, and even the CGI animals – unbelievably adorable – are other praiseworthy technical highlights.
The visuals in Snow White vary from scene to scene. The forest animals are adorable but sometimes they clearly look CGI, while at other times they look real.
Even the sets and costumes, all designed to mirror the visual plushness of the 1937 cartoon, give off less of a Magic-Kingdom-come to-life vibe and more of just Big Ren Faire Energy.
Wilson’s screenplay not only enriches the story with deeper themes of community, loyalty, and empathy but also gives characters more coherent and interesting motivations.
Wilson’s screenplay gave the lead character much more to do this time, and the updates were a breath of fresh air.
Thankfully, Erin Cressida Wilson’s screenplay doesn’t try to delve into the Evil Queen’s character… Finally, a family film that does not psychoanalyze its villain, instead simply letting them be evil, just as they usually are in children’s stories.
It just modernizes when it should focus on storytelling and leaves behind things that probably should be a bit more nuanced.
The central romance benefits from a modern approach… The actors’ chemistry is undeniable.
Their flirtation is very contempo Disney — it reminded me of the romance in Frozen, where love tussles with the lure of empowerment.
Zegler and Burnap are cute together. They don’t so much have chemistry, per se, but they have superficial scenes where they playfully banter and stare at each other in slow-motion, and these performers make it work.
(Photo by Disney)
Snow White defies the trend of recent remakes by delivering new songs that actually add something to the story and characters while fitting the vibe, cadence, and feeling of the classics.
New jams from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul offer a little punch-up… The standout “Princess Problems” is clever and self-effacing in ways that these live-action remakes can tend to miss.
The two add the magical Disney touch to the film with songs like “Waiting on a Wish.”
While these new songs are well done, they 1) have a very musical theater feel and 2) sound similar to the duo’s other works, especially The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen. Regardless, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Pasek and Paul were nominated for another Academy Award for their work on this film.
Their best contribution: “Princess Problems,” a witty assessment of Snow White’s travails sung by a woodland bandit/freedom fighter played with easygoing assurance and sly comic timing by Andrew Burnap.
From the witty “Princess Problems” to the generically enraptured “Waiting on a Wish,” [they] hover somewhere between fine and forgettable.
There are more musical numbers, most of them forgettable and some quite embarrassing.
As the lead character, Zegler easily carries the movie, demonstrating her excellent screen presence and performing skills.
She radiates charisma and emotion in every scene… This is, without a doubt, one of the most memorable performances of the year from one of the most talented actresses of her generation.
A rock-solid lead.
Whenever Zegler is onscreen, the film manages to conjure up some of that good old Disney magic.
Zegler’s Snow White is rich and well-rounded enough to keep things afloat. She embodies the character’s gentleness with sincerity, maintaining an awareness of why each act of kindness matters.
With a pitch perfect singing voice, spot-on physicality, and a theatrical, emotional performance that resonates… she’s the only participant in this production who completely understood the assignment and brings Snow White to actual, meaningful life.
Zegler has a lovely voice and, as West Side Story showed, can hold her own against stronger actors when needed. Yet she barely registers here, and other than nailing the Broadway-style pyrotechnics of “Waiting on a Wish,” one of the few new songs contributed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, her Snow White is pure vanilla extract.
(Photo by Disney)
Gal Gadot [is] having an absolute whale of a time chewing the scenery.
I wish Gadot’s vocal performance were more operatic and less Mata Hari, but she still makes a stylishly intense villain.
I thought Gadot’s performance here was serviceable (likely in the minority, I’m sure). It teetered between cartoonish villainy and campiness.
You might wish for a touch more arch campiness in her performance — along the lines of, say, Angelina Jolie in Maleficent— but Gadot is an imperious presence in lots of chunky power jewelry.
Gal Gadot looks every bit the Evil Queen, like an animated cel come suddenly to life. Her performance is arch, which is to be expected, but not in a fun way.
Her Evil Queen swings between acceptable camp and a forced performance with terrible line delivery and inconsistent facial expressions.
As much as the Dwarfs take getting used to, they become a meaningful and integral part of Snow White’s story.
The actors’ efforts are valiant; the visual results are purely, weirdly animatronic.
Although the talented voice cast gives the characters humor and distinctive personalities, their CGI renderings are, well, a bit creepy, and less photorealistic than many of the cute woodland creatures that flock around Snow White.
Visually distracting and out of place in the movie’s overall aesthetic… The artificiality takes away some of the magic and immersion.
Those magical pals sure look awkward in their final form.
The seven dwarfs don’t get much modernizing short of some Zemeckis-esque CGI… The voice cast is so generic you’re hard-pressed to know any of the actors behind them.
Choosing to use these weirdly photorealistic digital avatars, rather than putting real actors on the screen, was Webb’s worst misjudgement.
If this was the only way the great minds of Disney could imagine realizing these characters, allegedly without offense, in the 21st century, they might need a few new minds.
On the heels of Wicked, this marks the second screen musical in four months to warn children and their elders against blind acquiescence to a totalitarian ruler.
The film doesn’t hold back on its messaging and might even wake up some minds.
This has to be the closest a Disney princess film has got to paraphrasing The Communist Manifesto.
There are worse messages to be putting out into the world via family films right now than celebrating the virtues of kindness and fairness over cruel despotism.
[It has] great messages about community, standing up for what is right, and remaining fearless, fair, brave, and true even in the face of cruelty.
The remake suggests that while fairy tales evolve with time, their core messages – compassion over selfishness, courage over fear, kindness over evil – remain timeless.
If there’s a quibble to be had with the film it’s that it can often feel as if all its various parts and players exist in a slightly different film… It doesn’t always fit seamlessly together, but it’s far more entertaining than that might lead on.
The producers should have picked a lane and stayed in it. As it is, Disney’s Snow White keeps veering between two aesthetics and two eras, so it never picks up momentum.
Disney’s Snow White opens in theaters on March 21, 2025.
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