Movie Review: 'Mirror Mirror'

With fairy tales as beloved as Snow White, you need to bring something fresh and new to the table to make an impression. And with another Snow White movie coming out this summer, “Snow White and the Huntsman,” this challenge becomes even fiercer. I just wish “Mirror Mirror” got the memo.

That’s not to say that the effort isn’t visible on screen -- filled with pastel-colored, ethereal imagery, “Mirror Mirror” looks like the perfect counter-film to the serious, dark spin displayed in “Huntsman.” However despite the film’s best efforts, the action, humor, and dialogue feel stilted, never fully bringing the magic, laughs, or intrigue that enchanted everyone so in Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Lily Collins is undeniably lovely as Snow White -- though she relies on her pouty-lipped, doe-eyed delicate princess act a bit too much. For a movie that straight-up spells out its goal to us (“I’ve read so many stories where the prince saves the princess, it’s time we change that ending!) she really is lacking the vivacious spirit to match her sentiments.

Surprisingly, the dwarfs were the most entertaining part of the movie. With the original names changed to Wolf, Napoleon, Half Pint, Grub, Grimm, Butcher and Chuckles, they may all be stock characters, but does it really matter? Unlike much else in movie, these munchkins were one of the comedic elements that charmed from beginning to end.

It’s not so much that the script is childish – I’m all for the thieving dwarves and the flirty sword fights -- it’s more that so much of it was laughably bad, minus the laughs. Price Alcott (Armie Hammer) under a puppy love spell where he frantically licks the queen’s (Julia Roberts) face and squeals and pants. The queen getting a facial treatment that involves bird poop and worms. You catch my drift.


Purposefully goofy with a hint of camp, this version of Snow White is dripping with randomness and lost potential. At first it was a bit difficult to single out what exactly was causing the film to have such an underwhelming current running through it. The stunning look and extravagant costumes carry it a long way, perhaps even enough to temporarily mask the real narrative issues at hand. When it comes down to it, “Mirror Mirror” feels like a TV movie; amusing enough, but the kind of movie that still leaves you craving a great deal more.

Rating: C