Rupert Sanders: Snow White and the Huntsman

Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman, Universal Pictures, 2012.

Grossly manipulating the Brothers Grimm into a vapid mess which looks stunningly beautiful, first-time helmer Rupert Sanders, crossing over from commercials, makes an unfortunate fore into motion pictures.

For Snow White, one of this Summer's most anticipated films, is a big wash-out. Starting with a mediocre script by John Lee Hancock and Evan Daugherty and Hossein Amini (!) rife with stale narration, wretch dialogue, and inane action, Sanders finishes it off poorly with his misfired debut.

Aside from the shitty script and unfocused direction, which kill the film, there are a few delights to be had among the doldrums.

Charlize Theron makes the movie the little that it is; her Ravenna is a shoddily written character brought to furious life in a spellbinding turn by the incomparable Theron. Greig Fraser's camera captures the vivid nature and lens flares of a storybook kingdom with a breathtaking grace; and lastly, James Newton Howard's lush, dark score is arguably the greatest contribution to art that this folly can figure. Everything else is pretty much bad camp.