Kristen Stewart . . . my favorite. I LOVE girls who have mono-face (mono-tone for facial expressions). Who else would you want for a vibrant, strong, and compelling character in the process of becoming a renegade leader against the Evil Queen, Ravenna? Ick. Seriously, Stewart isn't a strong leader; she is too weak to lead a rebellion against the Queen? Seriously -- it's like they put a crown on Bella Swan's head. Stewart's Snow White is whiny fearful, clumsy, and in constant need a big man to save her. Furthermore, Snow White is supposed to be "life itself," a "healer," and "the one everyone has been waiting for." This may be true, but I'm not sure I believe Stewart can fulfill these three qualities.
Perhaps I am being too harsh to Kristin Stewart. Maybe she did the best she could with this role. I just . . . the only movie I've ever liked her in was Speak, but I think this is because Melinda Sordino is quiet, shy, and a bit awkward. She did that well because she is that way naturally. I just don't see her being able to escape that role to become anything more: not Bella, not Snow White, not anyone really.
At least the other actors in the film are able to compensate for her lack of acting skills, especially Charlize Theron.She has so many sides as an actress, but she always comes off powerful and beautiful. In this film, it even makes her dangerous. She has to constantly feed upon beautiful girls for strength -- it looks kind of like a dementor attack like in Harry Potter. Furthermore, there are many scenes where she looks almost frail and sick, thus needing hearts to keep her own going. Thus, she needs Snow's heart to be eternally beautiful, the only thing she requires to be powerful and dangerous.
Theron is wonderful in this film. She's beautiful; she's obviously deranged in the head; she's powerful; and she has just enough crazy in her to play the Evil Queen perfectly. Moreover, Theron finds a way to make Ravenna human. She's not just the Evil Queen, who is completely evil from the inside out. She is not a silly caricature of evil like the way Julia Roberts as the evil queen in Mirror Mirror is. Instead, Theron is a woman spurned by too many men to keep track of. After all, "love always betrays us" -- the reason for her evilness. Furthermore, Ravenna also has her moments of weakness. Theron is just fantastic. I loved her performance so much.
And her wardrobe -- PHENOMENAL. Every bit of it was lovely.
And then there's the huntsman, Chris Hemsworth. I'm sorry, but I can't look at him without thinking Thor. It makes things kind of funny, but he still does a good job with this role. He just plays the strong, protective guy so well.
Outside of the characters, there is an interesting twist on the classic good versus evil paradigm. Snow White is both good and evil. Snow is good because she is fair and pure of heart; Snow is bad because her fair and pure heart can be used as Ravenna's salvation.
I also love the plant/animal things. It's fascinating how these trees, rocks, etc. are able to become animals as well. The special effects were awesome.
It's hard for me to judge whether I liked the movie or not. Sometimes I think I'm just prejudiced against Kristen Stewart, but I also feel the movie is a bit slow. Or maybe I just like Mirror Mirror better. Whatever the truth is, Snow White and the Huntsman is not a terrible movie; it's okay.
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