Snow White (2025) Disney/Musical-Fantasy RT: 109 minutes Rated PG (violence, some peril, thematic elements, brief rude humor) Director: Marc Webb Screenplay: Erin Cressida Wilson Music: Jeff Morrow (score), Larry Morey and Frank Churchill (songs), Pasek and Paul (new songs) Cinematography: Mandy Walker Release date: March 21, 2025 (US) Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Emilia Faucher, Andrew Barth Feldman, Tituss Burgess, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, Jeremy Swift, Andy Grotelueschen, Ansu Kabia, Patrick Page, George Appleby, Colin Carmichael, Samuel Baxter, Jimmy Johnston, Dujonna Gift, Idriss Kargbo, Jaih Betote, Hadley Fraser, Lorena Andrea, Freya Mitchell, Zoe Athena, Adrian Bower, Felipe Bejarano, Simeon Oakes, Joshmaine Joseph, Chike Chan.
Rating: ** ½
The good news is the new live-action remake of Disney’s Snow White isn’t quite the s*** show it was rumored to be. The bad news is it’s still as hollow and unnecessary as most of the live-action remakes of their beloved animated classics. I didn’t hate it at all, but I was so not enthralled by any of it. That’s not to say your kids won’t love it. They probably will. The original 1937 animated version wouldn’t resonate with them. It’s from a different time. They’re too young to understand and too unversed to see the beauty in it. That’s too bad. It’s the better film.
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding this Snow White and I’d like to address it now. Some have been up in arms about the casting of Latina actress Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) in the title role. She attracted a fair amount of controversy herself over her negative comments about the original film. Let me just say she does a great job. It’s a different take on the character. She’s not the kind of girl who just sits and waits for her prince to come. This Snow White is a real go-getter, a girl of action. She brings the fight back to the Evil Queen. She’s Snow White for the 21st century.
Now let’s talk about the seven dwarfs. Disney, you probably noticed, dropped “and the Seven Dwarfs” from the title. They’re still in it, but the studio decided it would be best not to call attention. Dwarf actor Peter Dinklage has been quite vocal with his criticism of Snow White calling it a “backward story”. Originally, Disney cast human, non-dwarf actors in six of the seven roles. It’s a reimagining that raised the ire of people in the dwarfism community and others who felt it was unfair not to hire small-statured actors. The studio then made the decision to depict the dwarfs as CGI characters. It was a bad move. They look creepy and weird. They’re likely to freak out smaller children. Disney should have hired actual dwarf actors to play the parts. What they do here is so wrong.
This version of Snow White remains semi-faithful to the original movie while updating aspects of it to make it more modern. It also takes partial inspiration from the fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm in depicting her miraculous birth during a snowstorm to a kindly king and queen. She’s a happy child who frolics and dances all day with her parents’ subjects. She’s beautiful, kind-hearted and full of grace. Like many a Disney child like this, she loses her good parents and ends up in the custody of a rotten stepparent. The Evil Queen (Gadot, Wonder Woman) hates Snow White and forces her into servitude while stealing all of the once-peaceful kingdom’s riches for herself. She’s a vain despot who requires daily affirmation from her Magic Mirror that she’s “the fairest one of all”.
One day, the Mirror tells her Snow White is the fairest in the land. This enrages the jealous queen who orders her huntsman (Kabia, Back to Black) to take her deep into the forest and kill her. He doesn’t have the heart to take her life so he tells her to run and get as far away as possible from the queen. She does and ends up at the home of the seven dwarfs- Bashful (Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Doc (Swift, Mary Poppins Returns), Dopey (Feldman, No Hard Feelings), Grumpy (Klebba, Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3), Happy (Salazar, Impeachment: American Crime Story), Sleepy (Grotelueschen, Coin Heist) and Sneezy (Kravits, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile). Do I really need to continue? You know the story; I know you do.
Here’s where this Snow White differs from any other version. There is NO prince. Instead, there’s a handsome bandit named Jonathan (Burnap, Under the Banner of Heaven). He’s a lot like this chap named Robin Hood. Ever hear of him? He even has a band of merry men (and one woman). Snow White first encounters Jonathan stealing food for his people from the castle pantry. He’s the one who opens the princess’ eyes to the suffering of her people under her stepmother’s tyrannical reign. He protects her when need be, but this is one girl who can take care of herself. I mean, she leads a rebellion against the Evil Queen in the climax so she’s obviously not helpless. Purists need not worry too much though. The life-restoring kiss is still part of the story.
Zegler is beautiful, talented and has a lovely singing voice. She conveys grace and strength in equal measures. She hits all the right notes as Snow White. Gadot looks the part, but that’s all her performance is, surface. She doesn’t lean into the role with the same relish as Glenn Close playing Cruella de Vil in the 1996 live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians. Her singing isn’t especially good either. Burnap brings a roguish quality to Jonathan, especially in the scene where he and Zegler do a fun little number called “Princess Problems”. It’s as forgettable as the rest of the new songs, but it’s the only one that isn’t completely lame.
Directed by Marc Webb (Gifted), he wisely keeps classic songs like “Hi-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work” to medium effect. It’s in these moments that Snow White sort of comes to life. At the same time, their inclusion underscores what’s missing from this version, namely the magic and emotion of the OG. It’s a lively movie that somehow falls flat on its face more often than not. It just feels empty. That’s my opinion. I have a feeling kids will see it much differently. We had our Snow White, this is theirs. Let them enjoy it.
