All right, after the multitude of nagging from he-who-shall-remain-nameless-but-still-get-stoned-with-rocks I decided to do another review. I was happy to hear that my review of Ip Man was so well received. Go me! So I recently went to go see this in theaters and at first I wasn't even intending to see this originally. I had wanted to see Battleship but since I was 30 minutes late for the movie I decided to opt out for the time being and see this one instead since it did have a favourite actress of mine - Charlize Theron. So before I go on let me lay down the background of this story as I'm sure everyone knows already.
The story:
Snow White is the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen. Unable to tolerate the insult to her vanity, the evil queen decides that Snow White must die. The queen sends a huntsman to kill Snow White. However the huntsman finds himself unable to murder the innocent young woman and instead ends up training her to become a warrior capable of threatening the queen's reign.
So when I first saw the preview for this movie I was skeptical, hell I was more than skeptical I was in downright disbelief that this could be even close to anything good. Kristen Stewart has not instilled me with any faith in her acting with her Twilight films on her resume. I hated Twilight which is why you will never find me doing a review on it on this site because it wasn't even worth the time to write about it. She never seems to play a character for me but it feels more like she's acting as herself playing a character if that makes sense. She's kind of like Sandra Bullock but I love Sandra far far far more than I love Kristen any day of the week. There are some actors that don't have the ability to immerse themselves in a role to the point of becoming that other person because we always see them as their real persona, their acting persona - not the character. Although Sandra did a wonderful job in Blind Side (I'll be doing a review of that soon enough so stay tuned). Next to Kristen was Chris Hemsworth who bored me to tears in his portrayal of Thor in "Thor" and "The Avengers". Despite all the bruhaha that came from it, as you can read in my previous review of Thor, I wasn't impressed. So, yeah, I was extremely skeptical about paying 8 dollars to see this on the big screen. The only saving grace to my mind for this movie that made me remotely interested in it was Charlize. I love Charlize. I loved her in Aeon Flux. I loved her in Monster. I love her - period. I wouldn't say that she is the most spectacular actress I have ever seen or my #1 favourite but she is on my list. She played the villain quite nicely and had me enthralled every time. Kristen was also a bit of a surprise although she does have a long way to go with her acting, it was an improvement from her recent films (mainly Twilight). I wonder if this improvement is because she was working along Charlize and other notable actors. The world may never know. Chris didn't do so bad himself and I think this role fit him pretty well.
The story was very dark and edgy which I enjoyed very well. The backgrounds and scenes were vivid, dark, and sometimes fantastical. The creatures gave it that "Grimm Brothers" feel which I'm a fan of rather than the Disney rendition. Overall it was a good film. It won't win any awards in my book but it is worth a watch. Is it worth the movie ticket? Hmm, now that one I'm on the fence about. I don't quite regret paying for the ticket to see it in theaters although I still do wish I could've seen Battleship. Oh well, give it a watch and make your own judgements!
Thanks for the review, Kaylena. It makes me glad I nagged you. I've seen big posters for the film in town, and I was curious about it. Only one thing put me off it: Kristen Stewart. I agree with your criticisms of her. I liked the first Twilight film despite her. In the others I cringed every time she entered the scene. The only film in which I like her as an actress was in "The Runaways". She was perfect as Joan Jett. I also agree with your judgement of Charlize Theron, she's one of the most versatile and talented actresses alive today.
ReplyDeleteAnd please don't start me on Chris Hemsworth again. Your problem isn't with him as an actor, it's with Thor as a character. The comic book Thor is a rigid humourless character. The portrayal of him in the solo film was almost correct, but in the Avengers film he was 100% true to the comic. That's great acting in my opinon.
Well whatever. I didn't like Thor's character I guess and Chris paid the price as collateral damage. I'm looking forward to seeing him redeem himself in my eyes with future roles then since you are so confident in his abilities and skills as an actor. :P He took a good first step with this film, I'll say that much. Another thing, I also like Ryan Reynolds even though I really didn't like him in the Avenger's film so honestly I'm still a bit leery on your explanation of character vs actor. We'll see I suppose in due time. :P
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