Overall Rating:
Score: 8.0/10
Grade: B+
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 4 (Great)
Kids ages 6+
A wicked queen? check. Seven dwarfs? check. An innocent princess? Not necessarily. That's what sets this Snow White adaptation apart from the Disney cartoon classic, there's more to this modern update than you think...
Its' the princess' 18th birthday, and the only people in the castle who will recognize it are the maid-servants, since the Queen (Julia Roberts) has more selfish things to think about and the King disappeared 10 years prior. Wondering what its' like to be outside of the castle, Snow (Lily Collins) ventures out into a town stricken by poverty (and taxation by the Queen). Realizing what the Queen had done, Snow tries to find out how to get the town back the way it was when her father was around: singing, dancing, and enjoying life. While in the woods, she runs into a Prince (Armie Hammer) who had been ransacked by seven dwarfs. Upon setting him free, the Queen hears of the Prince's arrival, and comes up with a scheme to marry him and use his riches to help solve the financial problems of the town (and herself). Hoping that throwing a ball would help them fall in love, Snow sneaks into the ball and runs into the Prince. Upon seeing her, the Queen confronts Snow and the princess stands up for herself telling her stepmother what her father really wanted. Somewhat offended, the Queen orders Snow to be killed by a dreaded beast in the woods. But her servant Brighton (Nathan Lane), once far into the woods, sets her free in return to her father's kindness to him, but warns her never to return. What will become of Snow? Will this fairy tale have a happy ending?
Mirror Mirror is a whimsical tale filled with brilliant backgrounds, special effects, and costumes, so I give a tip of the hat to director Tarsem Singh's amazing imagination. The film carries positive messages about standing up for what you believe is right, being yourself, not judging someone by the way they look, selflessness, kindness, and the dangers of greed. Snow White is a strong role model for young girls, who actually does the "saving", instead of the Prince like in the "many stories where the prince saves the princess". (Snow reminds us by saying, "I think its' time we change that ending")
The music score by the legendary Alan Menken is excellent, though its' clear this isn't a musical (there is one fun little musical number at the end called "I Believe in Love" performed by Lily Collins). The dwarfs made me giggle with their slapstick antics, and I could certainly tell that Julia Roberts had a blast playing the "duck soup" for a change, doing an excellent job as the Queen.
The movie also had a fantastic ending, sort of combining endings from Tangled, Enchanted, and even a bit of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but I'm not revealing anything of what happened.
Negative Notes
Not much. As usual, magic is in the mix, but its' more Disney-like than anything (poison apple, love potion, giant marionette puppets, magical mirror reflection). A couple of mildly suggestive jokes and a few potentially scary scenes that may scare younger viewers. The queen uses a beauty treatment that involves worms on her nails, scorpion stinging her skin and parrot poop being wiped on her face. Some name-calling and the dwarfs steal a number of times (one is seen briefly inebriated).
Summary
So, once upon a time, in an enchanted kingdom, there lived a princess who ended up defeating an evil queen and marrying the prince of her dreams...wait, that doesn't sound right, does it? And did I just spoil the story? Well, it is always somewhat predictable, as everyone knows how the story goes, but this particular adaptation has a lot more twists and turns.
Snow in the Disney cartoon is seen as innocent and helpless. In this one, she's still a bit innocent, but she's also seen later on as a swashbuckling hero (thanks to seven dwarfs training her to swordfight). The Queen is wicked and careless in the Disney cartoon, while in this one, she is those things, but she also is sophisticated. The dwarfs, they may have different personalities, but its' not Sneezy, Dopey, and Sleepy, its' Wolf, Butcher, Half-Pint, and others (maybe Chuckles might've been the closest one related to the original dwarfs).
So while it falls short on the wit and charm of Disney's fairy tales, Mirror Mirror is still a fun fairy tale twist that's pretty easy to get into.
