Snow White & The Huntsman: Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5

Snow White & The Huntsman studio: Universal Rated :PG-13 for intense violence Run Time: 127 minutes Cast: Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Kristan Stewart Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5 Review Once upon a time (now), in the enchanted land of Hollywood, a wicked spell has been cast that robbed the makers of their creativity and originality and cursed the people to endure the retelling of the same stories over and over again. The latest example is the of this hex is proven in the fact that in the past 10 months there have been no less than three big budget productions based on a 200 year old Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Over the past two centuries dozens of versions of Snow White have been produced, the most famous being the 1937  animated film which introduced cute names for the famous dwarves and essentially launched the Disney "rated G" empire and introduced the most famous rhetorical question; "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" If that question were applied to all the recent adaptations of the classic fairy tale from which it derived, the reflecting glass would undoubtedly respond "The latest is the greatest." Snow White & The Huntsman is head and shoulders above TV's "Once Upon A Time" and the theatrical travesty "Mirror, Mirror" that was released earlier this year. Although all three plots have roots in the classic fairy tale,  SW&TH finds its teeth in remembering that the source material wasn't originally a story meant for children, rather it was the 19th century's version of a horror story. A horror story that first time director Rupert Sanders translates artfully for a modern audience using skilled actors, elaborate wardrobe and set dressings, realistic CGI and special effects and absolutely remarkable cinematography to tell an intriguing, spellbinding story.

The plot remains fairly loyal to the tale we all know with a few slight and minor revisions which actually add the depth to the characters that elevates this movie from being simply a live-action adaptation of the Disney version onto a level of quality which very few films achieve.

Chris Hemsworth  (Thor) and Kristen Stewart (The Twilight franchise) both take advantage of the opportunity the script provides to escape the typecast doom that they could have possibly faced for the rest of their careers. Their performances were remarkably impressive and neither should worry about being eternally linked to gods and vampires.
Charlize Theron dominates every time she's on screen embodying evil again like she did in Monster as Ravenna the evil queen/step-mother/witch.

Assisting Theron in radiating that evil are the details in every costume  and prop on the set. Demonic etchings in her raven flocked throne and skeletal jewelry accentuate the villain's corrupt nature as she struggles to maintain her spot as the lands top model. Cue the special effects team who not only do a fantastic job in magically aging and de-aging the queen but also putting the DARK in the "Dark Forest" by way of the use of CGI to render subtle menacing foliage to incredibly scary creatures to battle. But as with the Benjamin Button-esque special effects performed on Theron, the CGI transformation of average height actors (some fairly well known) into fierce warrior dwarves less like the comedic Disney interpretation but more like the marauders (of smaller stature) in the Capital One credit card commercials. My one small complaint is with a scene where Snow White discovers her destiny and the computer generated images while still incredibly impressive are so cute that they (maybe intentionally) conjure up comparisons to the animated classic which momentarily detracts from the individuality and originality that the film had established early on. Ultimately though, that little quirk amounts to a tiny speed bump that fails to derail or even significantly slow this exhilarating action/fantasy/horror movie. Be advised, with violence and adult themes far more graphic than what was worthy of a G rating 80 years ago - this is not a children's film. I observed that during the most intense parts of the film some of the audience at the screening seemed very uncomfortable. My guess is they were the ones who brought their grade school age kids to the theater in anticipation of another family friendly iteration of the famous princess and loveable dwarves. This movie is appropriately rated PG-13, for it is that mature audience that will thoroughly enjoy this mature film.