Like many of my generation I have had to deal with Twilight fans, whether they’re the usual screaming middle school girls or the even more disturbing Twi-moms who drag their unhappy husbands to packed midnight premiers. I’ll admit, I read all of the books and saw four out of the five films in theaters. At the beginning of each of movie there was always a part of me that hoped that the acting had improved enough to make me not want to cringe every time a line was uttered. Each time I left the theatre disappointed and wondering how much money Kristen Stewart had to pay Paramount to let her come back.
I remember watching a preview for Snow White and the Huntsman and thinking, “that looks interesting, if Stewart wasn’t playing Snow I’d definitely see it.” When I sat down in my living room to watch the film I told myself to keep an open mind, and to not judge too quickly. Never having actually seen Stewart in a film that wasn’t Twilight I had no proof that she was bad outside of her vampire family.
The first 20 minutes of the film were intense and well made, though I had a hard time not laughing at the Huntsman’s (Chris Hemsworth) growly narration and supposed scottish accent. The Queen (Charlize Theron) was the character I enjoyed the most. She was the only one with a thorough backstory that gave support as to why she had turned out the way she did. She seemed to be the only character that was believable, unlike the Huntsman who barely gave us any clues about his past.
Throughout the film I had this feeling that I wasn’t able to put into words, it wasn’t until after the credits began rolling that I realized what it was. I had no emotional connection to any of the characters. I was frustrated that the casting director had chosen Stewart instead of finding a brand new actress, and sad to see what had become of the Queen. Generally, a writer wants the audience to feel for the characters, wants them to cheer on the hero and hiss at the villain. I felt as if the writer had let me down. Almost everyone knows the story of Snow White, but I think the writer made a huge mistake in thinking it was safe to assume that when the writer created an almost completely different tale. They made the Huntsman more prominent yet neglected to share his history with us which left me wanting more.
I was disappointed by how the relationship between Snow and William (Sam Claflin) was played out. These two had been playmates and believed one another to be dead after the castle was taken over. So they’re reunited after nearly ten years and they act as if they saw each other just the other day. I wanted to hear what William’s story was, what happened to him and his father after they fled from the castle, and how that changed him as a person.
The story did not have a stable enough backstory to support its plot. There were too many questions that remained frustratingly unanswered. With every passing scene I felt the respect I try to bring to every new film dwindling rapidly with no chance of ever retrieving it.
Autumn Micketti 