Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Critic Reviews

• Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

  It turns into a clangy medieval epic, full of random woodland monsters and battles, and it begins to lose the pulse of its fairy-tale mystique. It's like watching Clash of the Titans IV: Revenge of the Blood Apple.

• Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

  I resisted this derivative mishmash of classic fairytale and modern epic fantasy for as long as I could, but ultimately it swept me up into its geeky but manly embrace and carried me away on a white charger.

• Ty Burr, Boston Globe

  After a while, you just sit back and let the thing wash over you, marveling and giggling as necessary.

• Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

  "Snow White and the Huntsman" never quite delivers on its promise -- a dark retelling of the fairy tale in which women hold the true power, good and evil -- but it certainly is an attractive misfire.

• Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

  Snow does earn top billing, but don't be fooled: This film belongs to the Oscar-winning Theron, who sinks her talons into the killer part, making every snarl and outburst such wicked, cruel fun to behold.

• Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies

  This slightly overstuffed entertainment rises, in part thanks to [Hemsworth], to one of the most pleasant surprises of the summer movie season so far.

• Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly

  Sanders creates some wonderfully evocative visuals, but they're just fleeting moments of beauty that can't compensate for the slow, tedious story.

• Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

  There's a lot to appreciate, and a lot to ignore in a movie that needed a more experienced director to properly pull off.

• Katey Rich, CinemaBlend.com

  Sanders has approached a classic fairy tale with a few strong visual ideas and a very game Charlize Theron, and it's almost impressive how little he's managed to make of it.

• Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

  As feminist fantasy, the film is non-committal, and as a reimagining of the fairy tale, it's at best expensive-looking without seeming wantonly so.

• Stella Papamichael, Radio Times

  The overall look is seductively stormy, but looks are skin-deep - this is just a bit of fun dressed up as something more.

• Roz Laws, Birmingham Post

  Apparently there are at least 15 more fairytale films in production, including two each based on Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan, but I doubt many of them will look as good as this.

• Francesca Steele, Sky Movies

  The narrative lacks drive and there's something just a bit, well, dull about the whole thing, with too many characters in a plot that, ultimately, it's difficult to relate to or care about.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Despite some stunning effects work, this is a disappointing and frequently dull fairy tale adaptation that flounders thanks to dodgy performances, leaden dialogue and a crucial lack of both humour and action.

• Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

  This visullay striking, darkly-toned, revisionist version suffers from the same problems that inflict all spectacles helmed by debutant directors who come from ads and commercials.

• Sophie Monks Kaufman, Little White Lies

  We're supposed to believe that Snow White commands the adoration of everyone she meets, but when poor Hemsworth lunges in for his emotional reveal, it's as plausible as a man professing undying love for a tablespoon.

• Mark Adams, Screen International

  [The] film can never quite find the balance between fairy tale and Joan of Arc-style fable and gets bogged down in questing when it should be delivering magic and adventure.

• Marshall Fine, Hollywood & Fine

  It's better than you expect - but its length and self-seriousness probably make it too stolid and dark for the fairy-tale demographic.

Read all 18 critic reviews