A fairy-tale with a style of its own

  Sanders landed a biggie with this one, the film grossing just a bit farther off from $400m worldwide off a production cost of $170m, and landing on the top of the US box office. The debutante film-maker has also gone famous owing to the scandal of his romantic involvement with Kristen Stewart that led to her engagement break-up to Robert Pattinson. But I'm not here to analyse behind-the-scenes footage.

  SW and the Huntsman is a good example of decent direction. It follows a Huntsman ordered to kill Snow White yet ending up trying to end the reign of the Evil Queen. Although the plot sounds cliched it is cleverly delivered and acted upon. The dialogues are not too shabby for a fantasy flick and not be compared with the brilliant literacy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

  The first half shows the ruined world during the Queen's power. Being based on Snow White, the film is very dark and gloomy in most of its duration. This is no fairytale having a PG-13 rating. There is a lot of violence and gore which was necessary for its standing out from other adaptions such as Mirror Mirror which was released in the same year.

  Action choreography is top-notch and Sanders should be given more action-oriented films later on. Most the characterisation is worth mentioning and development occurs at a noted pace. Sets also owe justice to the atmosphere and its budget. Charlize Theron stole the show with her bad-ass seductress persona. No wonder she won an Oscar and was nominated for another (North Country).

  However, there are flaws. Firstly, Stewart getting the titular role is preposterous. Maybe she can pull it off as super insecure Bella in the Twilight movies but as Snow White - please! She has no beauty or onscreen presence. Julianne Hough should've gotten the role after transforming into a brunette. So I guess Stewart was   cast well, because she is white as snow.

  Also, the ending is predictable and so is the plot development. Introduction to new characters happens at the wrong times and this shows novice scrip-writing coming into play. More creativity should've been used in the depiction of magic.

  In conclusion, Snow White & the Huntsman is the fantasy movie of the year (so far), noting that a Lord of the Rings prequel (An Unexpected Journey) will be released in December. There is also a second-best act by Thor thespian Chris Hemsworth. But I'm glad I watched Prometheus over this in the theatre.

IMDB: 6.4/10.

Rotten Tomatoes: 49%.

BO101: 2.5/4.