Mirror Mirror

MMirror Mirror stars Lilly Collins, Armie Hammer and Julia Roberts.  The film basically revolves around the fairy tale of Snow White.  This film is essentially a children’s comedy.  Snow White’s father fell in love with the evil queen and was called away on a mysterious mission from which he never returned.  Snow White now an orphan was looked after and treated horribly by the queen.  When the queen discovers that a new prince is coming to town she does everything in her power to gain his affection.  Snow White encounters the prince at a royal ball and the two genuine people naturally hit it off.  The queen sees Snow White’s interaction with the prince and banishes her to the dark forest where she meets and befriends the dwarfs.  The dwarfs teach Snow White to become a thief and together they rob from the rich to give to the poor townspeople.  Snow White and the prince eventually cross paths again where they have to battle a huge monster that inhabits the forest.  The test of bravery both characters show causes them to fall in love with each other and together Snow and the prince stop the queen from being the tyrant of the kingdom.

This film offers very few original story elements that differ from the story’s premise and this may be one of the few times during the year where that’s a passable offense.  The most unique things about this film  are the set and costume design.  This film feels akin to if Bollywood were Americanized as a film genre.  All of the colors on character’s clothes are very bright and loud.  The castle looks something closer to an Arabian palace than a castle.  All of those small touches give the film a distinct look and feel that differs from other adaptations of Snow White’s story.  One very interesting bit of character detail is that in this film the dwarfs were at one time working and productive citizens in the kingdom.  The queen’s greed and lust for power put the dwarfs out of work and essentially forced them to become thieves.  The best dialog scenes of the film actually come from the dwarfs.  The jokes fly furious and fast whenever they are in conversation with anyone in the film.

The major problems of this film were caused by poor screenwriting and direction.  This film was funny for the most part, but while design touches are great I never found myself drawn in wanting to know more about Snow White as a character.  I wanted to feel her journey and be emotionally invested in the strife she faced but she just never connected with me and the fault rests with the screenwriter not actress Lilly Collins.  She did the best she could with the material she was given.  Julia Roberts completely overdid her role as the evil queen.  Her hated and dislike for Snow White never felt like it had much motivation.  I can understand if Snow White had done numerous small things to upset the queen but that is not the case here.  Julia Roberts performance just felt incredibly flat.  Armie Hammer did manage to impress in his scenes as the prince however.  He added a level of class to what is generally a very small part.

Overall, Mirror Mirror was a fun time at the movies but not one you’re likely to treasure in the same way people adore the 1937 Disney classic.