Snow White

Grade: B-

The new Snow White comes off as quite sanitized. It tiptoes on eggshells for 11 minutes shy of two hours, extremely careful not to offend. However, there’s a sufficient amount in the tank to barely recommend. I like Rachel Zegler a lot, and had no objection with her casting or performance. She makes the movie in many ways. It’s #1 right now, but it will be interesting to see how, or if, it ultimately stands the test of time.

This wouldn’t be at the top of my list to be Broadwayized, but the music is fine enough that I’d want to listen to some of it again, and I already have. “Waiting on a Wish” has a chorus that is based on the traditional “one, five, minor six, four” progression with a descending bass line – but the verses being in a different key than the choruses, coupled with Zegler’s acting and vocals, all come together to bring more life into the song than you might think. The motif of modulating from verse to chorus continues with “A Hand Meets a Hand,” an effective, reflective mid-tempo ballad in 6/8. This is the same composing team that did The Greatest Showman. Nothing blew me away like that one did, but the two I mentioned are the ones I was most struck by.

The carry-overs from the original – “Heigh Ho” and “Whistle While You Work” – are very well done, especially the former. It’s lengthy, but I never got tired of it. Some of it takes place in a cave, with a roller coaster that reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The CGI of Snow White’s seven friends (the D word is never used) was enjoyable to my eyes. Dopey looked like Alfred E. Neuman from MAD Magazine. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, but not in a distracting way. It just contributed to the charm. As expected, the cast is populated with several Broadway veterans, including Andrew Burnap (currently playing Cassio in the Kenny Leon-directed, Denzel Washington/Jake Gyllenhaal-starring Othello) as Jonathan, and Andrew Barth Feldman (from Dear Evan Hansen, and he starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence in No Hard Feelings) as “What, me Dopey?” Patrick Page (Hadestown, The Lion King) puts his subwoofer-level basso profundo voice to great use as the magic mirror. Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen is a bit one-dimensional, but so is the character, and she sells her moments. Carrying everything is Rachel Zegler, who hasn’t had the greatest career since West Side Story when it comes to quality, but she is always so wonderful, and deserves to be a star.

I’m not the most well-versed on the source material, but everything here seemed to happen too easily. I felt little to no stakes. After just one bite of the poisoned apple, Snow White instantaneously feels the effects. Certain gummies don’t work that quickly, I’ve heard. But fear not – one short kiss gets her to wake right up, then it’s all good. The final showdown with the queen is almost a non-event. All in all, though, Snow White hits all the right visual marks. It consistently looks great from a costumes and cinematography standpoint, and I enjoyed it as much as I possibly could. Everything is played very safe, but I wouldn’t say it deserves the backlash and flak it has been receiving.

Grade: B-