Mirror mirror on the wall, what鈥檚 the fairest Disney live-action remake of them all?
Wait, mirror. Hold on a second. Maybe choosing from the likes of 鈥淎lice in Wonderland鈥� (2010), (2020) and (2019) isn鈥檛 such a good idea. Mirror, on second thought, what鈥檚 on Netflix?
Even the most devoted fans would have to acknowledge that these have not been the most illustrious illustrations of Disney magic. At their best (鈥淧ete鈥檚 Dragon鈥�? 鈥淐inderella鈥�?) they breathe life into old classics that could use a little updating. At their worst, well,
Given the rapacious rate of remakes in modern Hollywood, it鈥檚 remarkable that it鈥檚 taken nearly 90 years for Disney to return to 鈥淪now White.鈥� It means going back to the very foundation of the Mouse House. The 1937 鈥淪now White and the Seven Dwarfs鈥� was Disney鈥檚 first animated feature; its grosses paid for the studio鈥檚 Burbank lot.
That legacy of 鈥淪now White,鈥� by comparison, doesn鈥檛 do any favors to Marc Webb鈥檚 inevitably lesser, inert live-action retread. Good intentions, like swirling bluebirds, flutter through this 鈥淪now White鈥�: to give its singing protagonist ( ) more agency; to expand that notion of 鈥渇air鈥� beyond skin tone; to reframe that problematic prince. But all that updating adds up to a mishmash of a fable, caught in between now and once upon a time.
It wouldn鈥檛 be an earthshattering observation to note that a 1930s cartoon, let alone a 19th century German folk tale, might not be entirely in line with contemporary culture. Most of these Disney live-action remakes have carried with them more than a few notes of correction and atonement for the past 鈥� a laudable goal that means a generation of kids might not need a brief history lesson to go along with an old classic.
But it鈥檚 a tricky thing reworking a fable that鈥檚 been around two centuries, and that鈥檚 doubly true when leaping from the two-dimensional fantasy realm of animation to the more complicated land of flesh and bone. Webb鈥檚 鈥淪now White鈥� has been a veritable case study for the headaches that can arise when a window into the real world is cracked open. Everything from Israel's war in Gaza (Zegler and her co-star Gal Gadot, who plays the wicked stepmother, have differing opinions), the humanity of little people (there鈥檚 a reason 鈥渁nd the Seven Dwarfs鈥� has been stripped from the title) and the alleged 鈥渨oke鈥�-ness of the production have been fuel for what we can gently refer to as online debate.
Despite some gloriously lush production design, 鈥淪now White鈥� 鈥� innocent of most of those backlashes though not all 鈥� can鈥檛 quite thread the needle. Even the new songs (by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul) that are good ("Waiting on a Wish") struggle to fit in alongside old standbys. Zegler does a spirited job remaking a classic Disney princess into a more modern woman; when she sings, the movie gets a lift. The last thing that's wrong with this 鈥淪now White鈥� is Zegler's casting.
But like scaffolding that's been left up too long, the strain of renovation shows in Webb鈥檚 film, particularly in its awkward handling of Dopey, Sneezy and company. The seven dwarfs, like the fawns and squirrels, are rendered in CGI. You could argue that this acknowledges the artificiality of a dated and offensive trope. But it also gives 鈥淪now White鈥� an uncanny quality, with all human characters but the dwarfs being played by real people. As if to Band-Aid over this, one of the woodsmen is played by an actor of short stature (George Appleby) whose presence seems like yet another atonement, only one for this 鈥淪now White,鈥� not 1937鈥檚.
You might be thinking: But what about the movie? The problem with 鈥淪now White鈥� is that you never stop thinking about these much-strategized and sometimes superficial efforts to recontextualize the original movie. Erin Cressida Wilson's screenplay remakes Snow White's story as less a princess awaiting her Prince Charming (the song 鈥淪omeday My Prince Will Come" has been jettisoned) than an heir to a throne who loses her gumption. Though taught as a child to be 鈥渇air鈥� as a leader by her father king (Hadley Fraser), Snow White has lost any ambition by the time Gadot's Evil Queen takes over the kingdom.
Gadot sinks her teeth into the Evil Queen, a spikey, slinky villain who moves with a metallic rustle (the costumes are by Sandy Powell). But she feels cut off from the movie, without the lines that would elevate her flamboyant performance into something memorable. The prince has been altogether scrubbed; instead Andrew Burnap plays the blandly cocksure bandit Jonathan who encourages Snow White not to wait for her father's rescue.
Presumably one of the reasons to bring actors into remakes of animated classics would be to add a warm-blooded pulse to these characters. Zegler manages that, but everyone else in 鈥淪now White鈥� 鈥� mortal or CGI 鈥� is as stiff as could be. You're left glumly scorekeeping the updates 鈥� one win here, a loss there 鈥� while pondering why, regardless of the final tally, recapturing the magic of long ago is so elusive.
鈥淪now White,鈥� a Walt Disney Co. release is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for violence, some peril, thematic elements and brief rude humor. Running time: 109 minutes. Two stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
