MOVIE REVIEW: SNOW WHITE

 

Disney's Snow White, or simply Snow White, is a 2025 American musical fantasy film directed by Marc Webb and written by Erin Cressida Wilson.

Director: Marc Webb

Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Martin Klebba, Ansu Kabia, Patrick Page, Jeremy Swift, Tituss Burgess

Release Date: March 21, 2025

Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Romance

Rated PG for violence, some peril, thematic elements and brief rude humor.

Runtime: 1h 49m

Review:

Disney's live action Snow White had a rather turbulent ride on its way to the big screen with the result being a rather inoffensive, albeit forgettable, family musical carried by a strong, earnest turn from Rachel Zegler.  Marc Webb's visually garish production is lively for most of its runtime even though it does rely too much on CGI for my taste.  Webb delivers some solid set pieces for the film's catchy musical number with Good Things Grow, Heigh-Ho and Whistle While You Work being the best of the bunch.  There's a real sense of energy that comes through during those sequences even if the film struggles to maintain it on a consistent level.  The mash up of classic tunes from the original animated film and new tracks is hardly seamless as there's a noticeable contrast between them with the new songs which have a very modern Broadway feel to them.  Rachel Zegler proves to be more than capable of traversing the choppiness of the mash up with impressive ease by delivering a strong vocal performance along with a wide-eyed authenticity that works well for the character.  Zegler's vocal talents are put on full display here, which allows her to shine during her musical numbers.  The character is written with a bit more agency here but like the mash up of songs there's a clunkiness to it all that feels like it could have been worked more subtly into the narrative especially the ending which feels tacked on.   Andrew Burnap's Jonathan is solid and likable but there's nothing close to any sort of chemistry here between him and Zegler to make you believe the "true love" thread that's central to the final act.  Gal Gadot embraces the look of the Evil Queen with a vamp/camp performance that's sure to be a point of discussion along with her musical number which does more to hide her voice than highlight it.  After all the belly aching about this film's version of the seven dwarfs, they appear pretty much like they did in the animated film but with a strange realistic look that is more distracting than anything.  Martin Klebba's vocal work as Grumpy leaves the biggest impression with the others proving to be rather interchangeable and non-descript.  Once it’s all said and done, Snow White ends up in the same category as the majority of the other live action remakes, passable entertainment that never reaches the heights of the classic animated film.  

B-