Good, but flawed.
The film is a visual spectacle. The director paints a spellbinding world, where glorious towers cast their shadows on an icy lake below, and the queen's mirror is a portal to a desserted deck on a serene lake. This world is both beautiful and enticing, and I was entirely seduced by the sleek, silklike cinematography. Plus, the mysterious, snow-covered woods have yet to lose their novelty for me.
The script, on the other hand, is rather disappointing. I do not fault the writers for the occasionally cornball and clumsy dialogue, and I give credit to Singh for the competently choreographed fights. However, it IRRITATES me that the script lacks heart. Notice that entertainment and humour are not on the list, although the adult themed humour, which made me inappropriately hysterical, does nothing for the little kids. Well, you can't please everyone, now, can you?
Whilst Lily Collins is gorgeous, and oozes vulnerability and innocence, the spotlight belongs to ,as the opening narration claims, Julia Roberts. The evil queen is a strange and unbalanced mix of sarcastic, playful humour and sincere sinisterness. So, *CONGRATULATIONS* Julia for not OVER-acting and for nailing the delivery by the final act. I may, perhaps, be slightly biased because the evil queen and I are roughly the same person, but there is no denying Roberts' natural charm.
Nathan Lane's comic timing is spot on as always, and Armie Hammer is ever so charming as prince charming, especially when he's under the puppy-love potion. Even with this solid cast, the film fails to explore these characters in ANY depth. I'm NOT demanding a soulful and heartwarming representation of the age-old love story; a neat and somewhat believable romantic development is all that I desire. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK!?
The evil queen is the most believable, entertaining and compelling. We know that she is insecure, vain, rather impulsive and obsessed with attention, we don't know why, and her insecurtiy could have been projected more clearly, but who cares? At the end of the day, I connect with her better than I do with Snow, and that is where the script fails. Then again, the queen is the one with the glorious wardrobe, and all the best lines.
Out of 10, it's probably a 7.5 because I really do love the visuals, including Julia Roberts!!!
P.S. The use of voodoo magic is GENIUS, haven't seen that in a while. The strange Bollywood number at the end is quite energetic, and somehow, the song has yet to leave my head. I believe I believe in love... love! Not sure if I'm sure about that, but it sure is catchy!
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