Snow White (2025)

​“Snow White” stars Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Ansu Kabia, and Patrick Page.  Released on March 21, 2025, the film has a young woman confronting the evil queen’s tyranny.

The film is directed by Marc Webb, who also directed films such as “500 Days of Summer”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”, and “Gifted”.  It is a live-action adaptation of Walt Disney’s 1937 film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and loosely based on the 1812 fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.  One thing that immediately comes to mind when I think of animation is the studio that helped popularize the format: Disney.  Before being overwhelmed by its competitors and obsession with live-action remakes and IPs recently, Disney had dominated the animation game with its number of classics despite some misses, especially ones from the Renaissance era in the 1990s.  Of course, that was before the studio started losing its way due to money and its questionable choices in diversity and representation, but I don’t feel like getting into details about that.  We’re here to talk about the glory days when Walt Disney became a force in the animation department, and it’s all thanks to the fairest of them all: Snow White.  

Known for being the first animated feature film produced in the United States, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” became a crucial milestone in the industry through its fairy tale aesthetics, technical innovations, and memorable characters.  It set the stage for the golden age of animation, prompting other studios to follow suit, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Given the current status of Disney nowadays, it was only a matter of time before the movie that started the trend would get the live-action reimagining treatment like many others.  But, of course, it’s not without a few controversies plaguing the remake’s potential before it came out.  Those include Rachel Zegler being cast as Snow White, the recreation of the seven dwarfs through CGI, and my personal favorite, Zegler’s viewpoint of the 1937 film.  Isn’t social media fantastic?  Unfortunately for the detractors, those issues didn’t stop Disney from releasing it because the studio needed more money to create more original projects that would likely underperform at the box office.  With that said, let’s see if the live-action version is the fairest out of all the other remakes. 

The story follows Snow White (Zegler), a young princess living in her kingdom with her stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gadot), after her parents die.  Due to the Queen’s tyranny, the kingdom is left with nothing but despair and hopelessness.  Things get even worse when the Queen grows jealous of Snow White being the “fairest of them all”, prompting her to kill her stepdaughter out of obsession.  After escaping the Queen’s rule, Snow White finds herself in a magic forest, where the Seven Dwarfs reside in the cabin.  With the help of a rebel named Jonathan (Burnap) and the Dwarfs, Snow White strives to unite her people against the Queen and save her kingdom.

The Disney live-action remakes are the types of movies people can live with or without, mainly the latter for multiple Disney adults.  While I agree that most of them are as unnecessary as the remakes from other studios, they often have specific merits to delight a new generation of fans.  Even I, too, have soft spots for some of these remakes despite my agreeing that their modern changes won’t win over everybody.  However, with the recent controversies “Snow White” has been getting, it’s abundantly clear that reviewing anything from Disney positively nowadays has become an excruciating challenge, especially the live-action remakes, whether you’re a professional critic or social media influencer.  Yes, the higher-ups from Disney have made some annoying changes recently with its representation and appeasement to its audience.  Still, when it comes to talking about its films positively as a critic, the situation is becoming more and more like a death sentence on social media.  You either pan it to appease the overgrown haters or provide a positive review and get called a “paid Disney shill”.  There’s seriously no in-between.  I guess the Evil Queen isn’t the only person whose heart is full of jealousy and hatred.

So, while I was eager to see the remake due to growing up with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, I was also cautiously concerned about how I review it.  But then I remember the purpose of my reviews, in which I must always be fair, constructive, and honest regardless of the controversies, wokeness, or whatnot.  Of course, the same should be applied to Disney’s recent works, whether people agree with me or not.  Now that I got that out of my system and finally saw the film, it’s time to answer the question everyone’s been waiting for: does it really deserve the poisoned apple?  Obviously, the online trolls deserve it more for how poorly they treated Zegler.  As for the film itself, it’s not bad.  It’s no fairest of them all, but when it comes to balancing the old with the new, “Snow White” is a charming treat that offers a bit of magic and goodwill in its simplicity and slightly uneven approach.

There are many reasons “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is a timeless classic, including its charming characters, gorgeous animation, and memorable songs.  However, I believe the most crucial element for its success was its definitive reflection of what makes a person pure.  Being the fairest isn’t just about outward beauty, as the Evil Queen believed.  It’s the purity of a person’s heart that makes them genuinely kind.  This quality is reflected in Snow White’s generosity and goodwill towards others, contrasting sharply with the Evil Queen’s cold-hearted personality and greed.  While Snow White may be identified as a damsel in distress waiting for her prince to rescue her someday, she’s also among one of Disney’s finest princesses due to her compassion and unselfishness.  So, it’s unsurprising that screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson wanted to retain that personality for the remake but also provide enough depth to make the protagonist three-dimensional.  It’s far from perfect, but she did a fair enough job translating its timeless themes for the current generation.

Like Disney’s other live-action remakes, “Snow White” offers plenty of nostalgic moments to make audiences reflect on the animated counterparts, for better or worse.  But, its changes and additions to the story to fit with the modern times will heavily depend on people’s tastes.  It follows a similar storyline to the 1937 original, which could lead to many comparisons and predictable narrative beats that are understandably inferior to the animated version.  While that may be the case, director Marc Webb ensured that these scenes have their sense of charm and energy to make the similarities tolerable.  As for its changes, as I mentioned, they’ll depend on people’s tastes in the remakes.  On the one hand, these changes make sense in emphasizing its characters and themes involving inner beauty and kindness over greed, especially in today’s times where we’re constantly overrun by social media tyranny and political outcry.  But I’m sure the online trolls aren’t ready for that conversation yet.  On the other hand, I wouldn’t say that they’re groundbreaking additions to its straightforward plot.  The pacing can be pretty uneven during specific moments, and some of its emotional beats were a bit lost underneath its busy visuals and middling supporting characters.  Besides that, I’d say the screenplay was decent in respecting parts of the animated movie’s themes and expanding Snow White as a pure-hearted and fearless princess determined to fight with pureness.

Similar to the film’s story, the cast was far from unforgettable, but they provided enough moments in their performances to make their characters pure.  While I know the main leads’ personal viewpoints, political or otherwise, I’m also responsible for judging them based on their talent and nothing else.  I want to be a critic who never lets the actors’ “controversial” problems hinder my judgment of their acting.  That being said, I agree with everyone who watched it early that Rachel Zegler was the fairest of them all regarding her appealing performance.  Since my first exposure to her in “West Side Story”, Zegler has impressed me with her acting talents and excellent singing.  Her being cast as Snow White was quite a choice, but there was no doubt that she would be a delight to witness, and she did not disappoint.  The movie also saw Gal Gadot trading her Wonder Woman outfit for the Evil Queen’s wickedness, and the result was…not entirely bad.  I know that people love to jump on the hate wagon regarding her acting, and while I do see that her performances in other movies weren’t outstanding, her role as the Evil Queen was something I didn't mind, even if it’s not perfect.  The Evil Queen is known for her intimidating aura and cruel personality, especially in her subtle yet commanding mannerisms, and that identity remains in the remake.  When she’s speaking in a calm yet menacing tone, Gadot fits the bill quite nicely.  However, when the Queen does something that requires her to yell, things get a bit too silly to take seriously.  But, at the very least, her villain song, “All is Fair”, was tolerable to listen to.  Regardless of the leads’ controversies, I would admit that Zegler and Gadot did what they could to elevate the remake, and what they did was fine enough.

As for the supporting cast, they did all right in making their presence worthwhile.  Andrew Burnap assumes the role of Jonathan, a rebel created exclusively for the remake, and replaces the Prince as Snow White’s love interest.  His performance was all right, even though his line delivery was a bit stiff at times, but his singing more than makes up for his character’s hit-and-miss personality and lackluster group of rebels.  Unfortunately, I would also say that Ansu Kamia was the weakest of the cast in terms of his heavily restrained performance as the Huntsman.  But what about the Seven Dwarfs, you ask?  The ones with the “hideous” CGI makeover?  Well, the voice actors behind the goofy-looking Dwarfs, including Jeremy Swift (Doc) from “Ted Lasso” fame and “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Martin Klebba (Grumpy), delivered a similar amount of charm and heart as the ones from the animated version, with Swift being one of the highlights as the Dwarfs’ leader.  Andrew Barth Feldman, known for co-starring in “No Hard Feelings” with Jennifer Lawrence, also did a surprisingly good job making Dopey more than just a silent comic relief, although the one slight change to his character may not make the original’s fans as happy as…well, Happy (George Salazar).

Regarding the CGI effects for the Dwarfs, I feel like I’m one of the few people who didn’t mind this approach.  Sure, it would be nice to have actors with dwarfism portray them, but regarding the feedback, it’s another lose-lose scenario that won’t please everybody.  They may look a tad creepy, but at the same time, they also fit with the storyline’s storybook-like aesthetics and are distinctive with their identities.  Even the animals looked adorable in CGI form.  The presentation had a similar approach to Disney’s other live-action remakes regarding its “degrading” colorization.  However, that doesn’t make it even less magical.  The forest scenes and even the “Heigh-Ho” sequence are where the visuals actually attempt to be a bit more colorful, even with its yellowish saturation for the magic forest’s tranquility.  Despite being seen as another “lifeless” remake by most people, I can take the vibrancy of the film’s forest scenes over the “Lion King” remake’s barren wastelands any day.

Finally, we have the musical numbers.  The remake included four songs from the original version by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey, including “Whistle While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho”.  Those who grew up with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” would be as delighted with these classic songs returning as I was, and the new cast did pretty well in capturing the spirit of these toe-tapping tunes, especially Zegler’s rendition of “Whistle While You Work”.  However, the real topic was the new songs created just for the remake, as they were written and produced by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who previously wrote new songs for the “Aladdin” remake.  Regarding the show-stopping and captivating appeal of the songs, Pasek and Paul never fail to impress me with the musical finesse in their previous films, and I was expecting their work on “Snow White” to generate that similar success.  While some of them were anything but Oscar-worthy, they’re serviceable enough to warrant their existence, with Zegler’s “Waiting on a Wish” being my favorite.  I would also credit the musical numbers for their lively choreography provided by Mandy Moore, known for her work in several dancing competitions like “Dancing with the Stars” as well as the 2016 film “La La Land”.

Overall, “Snow White” has enough fairness in its narrative beats and magic to deliver a visually charming update to the animated classic despite being poisoned by the issues seen in Disney’s other live-action remakes.  Regarding some of its changes, uneven pacing, and predictable plot elements, the 2025 remake of Walt Disney’s first animated feature film is understandably far from the fairest of them all.  However, it is also far from the poisoned apple many detractors claimed it was, especially when I remove the overdramatic controversies surrounding the movie from my brain and review it for what it was.  Rachel Zegler made another delightful presence due to her performance as Snow White, and director Marc Webb made a decent effort to capture most of the endearing and magical aspects of the 1937 film.  Along with its serviceable visual effects, toe-tapping music, and solid approach to its inspiring messages, the movie is another watchable, if not inferior, remake that I can take or leave.  Of course, considering the film’s reflection on kindness and its mindless controversies, it’s another example of people needing to focus on something else for a change instead of wasting their energy being grumpy online.  If you’re interested in seeing this regardless of the reviews, you go right ahead and judge it for yourself.  If not, then don’t bother and focus your energy on supporting the original films playing in theaters instead of being "Evil Queens" online over something you can't control.  Regarding everything that’s happened with the film and even the current events surrounding our planet, I think we all need a hint of kindness now more than ever.

B-