Mirror Mirror

The first of this year’s two big screen re-tellings of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves (the second being dark action-adventure Snow White And The Huntsman), Mirror Mirror looked set to promise a deliver a fun spin on the Brothers Grimm’s beloved fairy tale.

After her mother died giving birth and her father, the King, disappeared never to be seen again, Snow White (Lily Collins) was left with her wicked stepmother, the Queen (Julia Roberts). On her 18th birthday, Snow is reminded that she is the rightful heir to the kingdom, even though it’s no longer the happy place it once was. Leaving the palace and allying herself with seven dwarves, Snow seeks to restore her father’s kingdom, while falling in love with a handsome Prince (Armie Hammer), whom the Queen is attempting to marry…

While filmmaker Tarsem Singh offers some of the striking visual sense you might expect from the man who brought us the gold-washed, 300-ish Immortals, the overall experience is a muted film which frequently falls flat.

The animated prologue is amusing and there are brief flashes of invention (such as the Queen getting a medieval makeover), but the whole thing is never as entertaining as you might hope. Still, both Roberts and Hammer are perfectly cast, even though the script doesn’t do them justice, while Lily ‘daughter of Phil’ Collins is likeable as Snow White despite the Queen being positioned as the main character (the only way Roberts would be involved?). One thing though, why did we need to replace the usual magic mirror with a weird gateway to a secluded island?

Ultimately, this is a disappointingly lifeless missed opportunity.