I was hesitant to check this out due to all the drama around it, but my curiosity ultimately won out. I’m not going to rehash all of the controversies, there are too many to list here, surely you’ve read about them by now. The live-action remake train has been choo-choo-ing at the Mouse House for some time now. There are over 22 that have been ranked by Rotten Tomatoes, and there are at least two Snow White reimagined, live-action movies: Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, neither of which is produced by Disney.

It’s been more ages since I saw the 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which still reigned as the highest-grossing animated film (adjusted for inflation) of all time. This 2025 film by Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-man) has been a decade in the making, with Disney attempting to modernize the fairy tale with a feminist-empowerment message while still keeping the nostalgic elements to please die-hard fans. Speaking of um, Die Hard, I heard the famous phrase “yippie ki-yay” in an action scene as a dwarf was swinging from a rope. My husband and I looked at each other in bewilderment, what was that all about?

At any event, the movie starts out pretty much like the original, with the ornate fairy book used as an expository device to introduce the tale ‘as old as time’ (The Brothers Grimm wrote Sneewittchen in 1812). Just like Cinderella, Snow White (Rachel Zegler) is mistreated by her wicked stepmother, somehow their dads have such poor choices in their second wives. While the conflict mostly stems from the Queen’s jealousy of Snow White’s beauty, in this version, the two have differing worldviews and life philosophies. Snow White is all about sharing wealth more fairly (if she lived in our world today, she might campaign for Bernie Sanders), while the selfish queen just wants to keep everything for herself.

I’m not a Disney purist, so I have no qualms about updating the story to appeal to today’s Gen Alphas + Gen Z-ers. In lieu of a Prince Charming, we’ve got a Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), envisioned as a cross between skilled thief Flynn Ryder from Tangled and Robin Hood, but with a ‘90s boy band floppy hairdo. Snow White catches him stealing potatoes from the royal kitchen and sparks fly, supposedly. She gets testy with the Queen when she bestows a severe punishment on him and ends up saving him.

Written by Erin Cressida Wilson (The Girl on the Train), the updates are in line with progressive updates that flip classic (read: outdated) fairy tales’ narratives. Girls don’t need guys to save them anymore, natch! Now, I have no issue with Snow White having more control over her own story instead of being mostly passive like in the original. Instead of ‘One Day My Prince Will Come…,’ Snow White sings ‘So will she rise, or bow her head? Will she lead, or just be led?’ in the lovely Waiting on a Wish song.

Now, it’s not like Disney is eschewing the romantic angle altogether, Snow White and Jonathan still fall in love, but but they’re given time to get to know each other and thus the relationship is more consensual. We get not one but two duets to prove that, the Princess Problems (Jonathan poking fun of the princess’ um, privilege) and the lovey-dovey A Hand Meets a Hand. Music is crucial in any Disney movie, especially since the original (written by Frank Churchill, and lyrics by Larry Morey) has set such a high bar. Fortunately, the phenomenal songwriting duo Benj Pasek + Justin Paul step up to the task here. Most of the songs are catchy, my personal favorite is Waiting on a Wish, which reminds me of songs from The Greatest Showman.

As for Zegler, after all of the online vitriol, she acquits herself well in the role. Naturally, haters are going to hate, so I’m not going to waste my time on the ridiculous complaints from people who think she’s not ‘white enough.’ Honestly, if they cast someone who’s as ‘white as snow,’ she’d end up looking like a vampire princess. The protagonist’s call for more kindness and empathy is all well and good, if only it comes across as less pandering. In the live-action Cinderella movie, the message comes across as genuine as we see her mother instill that in her before she died, but here, the way it’s written feels agenda-driven.

As far as her performance goes, I feel the same as I did when I first saw her in Spielberg’s West Side Story, her singing is more captivating than her acting. She often appears awkward in the romantic scenes, I wonder if it’s because Burnap is 11 years older than the 23-year-old actress? At least they don’t look creepy together, though I find Burnap pretty bland and charmless. He doesn’t strike me as rugged enough to lead the rebel band of ‘Merry Men’ who share a common enemy with the princess. Heh, I find the animated version of The Little Mermaid’s Prince Eric and Beauty + The Beast’s Prince Adam far more crush-worthy.

Now I’ve come to the worst parts of the movie… the creepy CGI dwarves and Gal Gadot as the Queen with an auto-tuned singing voice. The CGI animals are cute, but the CGI-dwarves, not so much. I think it’s a missed opportunity for representation that Disney did not hire actors from the Little People community, considering how poorly the CG character turned out. I’m glad they kept the timeless songs Heigh-Ho and Whistle While You Work, though it’s odd that the diamond mine reminds me of the Mines of Moria of The Lord of the Rings.

Gadot gets a chance to shine as the evil Queen, and while she does display a bit of flair in the All Is Fair segment, her acting mostly comes off as flat and uninspired. It’s especially visible in the final confrontation with Snow White; a more skilled actress would’ve made the Queen look more commanding and menacing. Gadot’s beauty cannot be denied however, she looks stunning even under the unflattering all-black, bejeweled getup, but her overly auto-tuned voice is hard on the ear. The choreography is pretty good, but the set pieces of one of the Queen’s musical numbers on a grand staircase look so distractingly similar to the Masquerade scene in Joel Schumacher’s The Phantom of the Opera that it took me out of the movie.

On the technical side, apart from the enchanting forest, the visuals are fake-looking with a generative AI vibe and garish colors. Despite the astronomical $200+ million budget, it isn’t at all awe-inspiring even compared to Disney’s animated classics from 70 years ago like Sleeping Beauty. So my final verdict: Overall Snow White is passable entertainment; it seems to cater more to kids but it’s tolerable for adults. It doesn’t make me grumpy while watching it but it won’t inspire me to sing a happy tune about it either.

Have you seen the new live-action SNOW WHITE? I’d love to hear what you think!
////