Snow White Movie Review

(Photo courtesy of Disney’s official Instagram account @disney)

Kerry Kadel | Editor-in-Chief

A lot of drama has been circulating around the release and reviews of Disney’s live-action Snow White starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Disney has had to take precautions with their Snow White and Evil Queen when it comes to the film’s movie premier and press release due to the actress’ personal views on the Palestine and Israel conflict. Many viewers have been in support of Zegler over Gadot, which has caused many opinions on the state of each actress and their acting skills in the film. 

This review will not integrate the views of Zegler and Gadot into how the film was perceived. 

Zegler was only eighteen-years-old when she had her breakout role as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021), and since then, she has starred in a handful of films, most notably The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a Hunger Games series prequel. Gal Gadot is known for her roles in the Fast and Furious franchise as well as starring as Wonder Woman in the DC comic film adaptation of the heroine. 

In all honesty, when it comes to casting roles I don’t care if the actor doesn’t look like the character they’re portraying–especially in Disney films. I thought Halle Bailey was perfect for the role of Ariel in the live action The Little Mermaid, because she not only has experience in acting, but singing too. She and her sister Chloe have a R&B group Chloe x Halle that spans a decade. Halle Bailey and Rachel Zegler have experience in singing and have been casted in roles due to their skills. For me, as long as the actor knows their character and gives their own spin on the timeless story for new viewers, I have nothing to complain about. I’m not a big “movie buff,” but I enjoy watching movies, and will see any movie regardless if it doesn’t meet the criteria of being “Oscar-worthy” or life changing. 

Even with the drama circulating around the film and the main two actresses, there’s so much more about the film that leaves Disney desperate to make millions, and it’s painfully obvious. 

From the moment the trailer released, I feared the big-headed, wide-eyed, CGI dwarves–all seven of them. I understand that dwarves are mythical creatures that look human but do not have exact human characteristics, such as exaggerated features like sharp ears, big noses, and of course, smaller than the average human. I don’t understand why Disney didn’t cast actors with dwarfism, and I found myself comparing the dwarves in this film to the actors casted in the non-Disney Snow White film Mirror Mirror starring Lily Collins and Julia Roberts. That film as a whole was unique in its own way, with its new story additions and different quirks and names of the dwarves. During the credits announcing the dwarves, I thought I noticed one familiar name, which was Martin Klebba. 

Klebba is an actor with dwarfism, voicing Grumpy in Disney’s Snow White and acted as Butcher in Mirror Mirror, who was the mock up of Grumpy. He has also been in Pirates of the Caribbean and recently starred in the Russo brothers’ movie The Electric State on Netflix. Klebba is the only actor voicing a dwarf in the film who has dwarfism. I don’t understand why Disney decided to take the CGI route for the dwarves instead of using special effects makeup on actors fit for the role. Like I said, I understand dwarves are supposed to be smaller human-like creatures with exaggerated facial features and magical powers, but Disney has had a track record of promoting diversity within their films while also holding back on diversity in fear of or a result of backlash. 

Speaking of backlash, audiences have been bashing Gal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen. Many videos have been surfacing online with clips of Gadot’s performances from other movies, showing her unemotional line delivery and staleness when acting. At first, I thought it was solely because of Gadot’s beliefs in the Palestine and Israel conflict that viewers were reacting so negatively towards her, but upon seeing the movie myself it was clear that Gadot’s performance was extremely lackluster. 

Gadot also has an accent, which made me believe that was another reason why her line deliveries were labeled as “bland” and “emotionless,” but how can one be both of those things while playing the Evil Queen? Gadot unfortunately does just that. As one of Disney’s most vain villains, Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen truly is unemotional. She was unable to make me, a viewer, believe that she was angry, or manipulative, it felt like I was watching Gadot try to be the Evil Queen. Many actors in this new wave of Hollywood can act and sing, but usually, if an actor can’t quite hit the high notes, it’s no surprise that producers and directors will bring in a stunt singer to record for the lead actor. Lea Salonga sang for Princess Jasmine in Disney’s original Aladdin while Linda Larkin voice acted for the princess. Drew Seeley gave his voice for Zac Efron’s character in the first High School Musical film. 

It’s not a hit to the actor when they are unable to provide all the attributes to a character within the film, but for a movie-musical, one that comes from the world’s leading empire of happy singing characters, stakes are high. Gadot’s singing bobbed up and down like a rollercoaster, almost on key only to dip back down into a laughable tune. It was like watching a Disney Channel original movie, with lyrics that lack meaning and tone that attributes to the Evil Queen’s true desires and hatred for Snow White. 

The film in its entirety can be easily forgotten, with very few laughs and memorable moments that catch viewers’ attention. There is no prince in the film, which is not as big of a twist as expected. The romance between Snow White and the traveling actor-and-thief Jonathon is love-at-first-sight (per usual as Disney tales go), but nothing between the two characters felt real and like they were truly falling in love. 

Besides all the negative aspects of the film, the one positive was the scene of the dwarves in the mines singing their iconic work song “Heigh-Ho.” Compared to the original, lines were added into the song to introduce Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, and Sneezy. This scene and song in the film is the only part I tell friends and family about when I say that I saw the new Snow White. The song keeps the whimsical tunes and instruments from the original song, but more upbeat and fast-paced. Other than that, there is no significance of the mines towards the film’s plot, along with the dwarves’ magic. In recent news, Disney has placed an indefinite hold on their live-action Tangled film. Entertainment Weekly suggests that in the wake of Snow White not hitting the mark in the box office in the two weeks since its release. Audiences have criticized Disney’s cash grab of taking every animated film and turning it into live-action. The next upcoming live-action remakes are Lilo and Stitch and Moana, with the former having been criticized for casting a lighter-skinned Hawaiian actress for Nani, Lilo’s big sister.

Perhaps this is the downfall of Disney producing live-action remakes in the wake of negative reviews and bombing the box office. Yet, this may not be the case, as I believe Disney will continue to produce live-action remakes and reboots of anything and everything under their name, no matter how much no one asked for it.