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10th Kingdom, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Fairy tale, Kristen Stewart, movies, Queen, Ravenna, Snow White And The Huntsman, SnowWhite
On my shelf is a copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
My favorite fairy tales contained all the right ingredients — adventure, love, a beautiful heroine, a gallant hero, and a villain — to send a little girl to the Land of Nod. I don’t think I will ever out grow fairy tales, and I don’t care. Actually, I’m kind of glad because if they are done right, we can get some good movies out of them.
If milk baths made us all look this fabulous, then get the Calgon and take me away.
I saw Snow White and the Huntsman (starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth). If you haven’t viewed the trailer yet, you can take a look at it here. I didn’t expect too much. Kristen Stewart is not one of my favorite actresses, and although Chris Hemsworth is a yummy piece of eye candy, I didn’t go to see him either. What caught my eye was the stunning scenes with Charlize Theron, who played the wicked queen, Ravenna.
The costumes for the wicked queen are fabulous! In contrast, poor Snow White has to dress in rags for most of the film.
Although the title of the film is “Snow White and the Huntsman”, I think the true focal point was Ravenna. She was the most intriguing character and was the driving force of the plot. Theron played her villainous role well. After the wicked queen was introduced, I didn’t particularly care if Snow White would regain her kingdom or not. Well, maybe I did care, not because I was rooting for her but because I wanted to know how Ravenna would meet her end.
The writers and producers did a great job incorporating the mirror, the apple and who is fairest in a new but still recognizable way.
I liked how the film explored Ravenna’s back story to answer the question of what makes a wicked queen. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more about that, but if the writers and directors did go down that road, I’m betting that poor Snow White and her Huntsman would have been guest stars rather than main characters.
Surprisingly, Stewart’s Snow White wasn’t as annoying as I thought she would be. I actually liked her better in this role than when she was Bella Swan.
Chris Hemsworth is the Huntsman (aka Thor with an axe rather than a hammer).
Chris Hemsworth was lukewarm. I don’t think it was a bad performance, but his character didn’t do anything for me.
There are a lot of Snow White movies out there. Here are some that I found:
- Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Snow White (starring Dame Diana Rigg) (1987)
- Snow White A Tale of Terror (starring Sigourney Weaver – TV movie 1997)
- Snow White The Fairest of them All (starring Miranda Richardson – TV movie 2001)
- The 10th Kingdom (starring Kimberly Williams – TV Miniseries 2000)
- Mirror Mirror (starring Julia Roberts – 2012)
- Faerie Tale Theater: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1982)
Speaking of villains, I can’t wait until Maleficent hits the theaters. She is one of my favorite villains of all times.
Angelina Jolie looks great as Maleficent.
Did you see Snow White and the Huntsman? What did you think of it?
Related articles
- Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman (atallfourcorners.wordpress.com)
- Review of SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (evarieder.com)
- Snow White and the Huntsman… Nail Polish??? (thefabulouslane.wordpress.com)
- Snow White and the Huntsman: Not Your Average Fairy Tale (uloop.com)
- The awesome terribleness of Snow White and the Huntsman [Movie Review] (io9.com)
The Tiger's Eye 
I’m intrigued now to see this film. Also, parts of it were filmed on my favourite beach in the whole world which is only 5 minutes from where i’m temporarily living.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2151215/Holidays-Wales-The-Pembrokeshire-beach-melted-Snow-Whites-heart.html
Glad to hear that Kristen Stewart was better that you thought she’d be – I don’t rate her much either, and it will be interesting to see what she’s like in The Road, later in the year.
I had to look up “On the Road” because I hadn’t heard of it before. At first I thought of “The Road” (McCarthy’s book), but then I remembered that that movie was already made. Duh. As a weird coincidence, Viggo Mortensen was in both “The Road” and “On the Road.” I think he likes to star in movies that have “Road” in the title. But I digress.
Thank you for linking to that article. I had no idea that the beach was in Wales (what pretty country!).
Oooops I meant On the Road – Jack Kerouac – not with it today!
Wales is beautiful (when it isn’t raining which isn’t v often).
I’d love to visit Wales someday! How marvelous that you live so close to that spot. 🙂
I like your review of the film. Charlize Theron was fantastic as the evil queen. I also thought the set design was beautiful in many places. I would have liked to have seen a stronger role for Chris Hemsley, but that probably would have weakened the Kristen Stewart character. It almost felt like the movie could have been a little bit longer to develop some of the character relationships.
I do agree with you, Karen! I wouldn’t have minded at all if they had decided to lengthen the movie. It could have been an epic! It sort of needed that in order to boost Snow White’s and the Huntsman’s characters.
I just saw this film last night – I was quite impressed by it on the whole actually. I went in not entirely sure what to expect but it was good, and I agree – Theron’s portrayal was just brilliant!
Oh, I’m glad you shared your opinion of the movie. I had no idea what to expect either. I too felt like it was pretty good. I hate shelling out cash for a movie at the theaters and not getting my money’s worth.
Me too, it’s so expensive to see films at the cinemas these days too! I think I liked this movie because it was quite dark, and really most of these fairytales were originally dark. We get used to the disneyfied versions that are all sweet and innocent, so it’s good to see directors pushing back the other way now, making them more entertaining for adults. (And let’s face it, there was eye candy no matter what gender you go for).
Oh, indeed! Eye candy galore, which is always a plus.
We do tend to forget that the original tales were pretty dark, weren’t they? Disney has altered whole generations that way. I really did like how this version weaved together the dark elements (wicked queen) and the traditional items we recognize (the apple, fairest of them all, the mirror). I thought it was done thoughtfully. I liked how Snow White was stronger than the traditional Disney character. This one fights in battles and kills the wicked queen. Did you get the feeling at all that her character wasn’t cultivated enough? I felt that way, but then again, if they had focused more on Snow White, it would have taken away from the queen.
I liked that too – it made the symbolism work, but in a new, less innocent way. I really liked the fact that Snow White actually kicked ass a bit in this version. She did seem quiet for the first half of the movie though, the first time she really gets rallied up is when she comes back to life and gives that speech to everybody – I think that’s the first moment her character really begins to shine. But I do know what you mean, I think she got less attention that both the hunter and the queen.
I didn’t realize there were so many Snow White movies. I guess this wasn’t that original of an idea.
Quite right. 🙂
I think that’s the thing about fairy tales. They appeal to all generations. You can’t leave them behind, and it is so tempting to try out different adaptations. Therein lies the challenge.
Fairy tales and fairy tale re-tellings seem popular as of late! (Or maybe I’m noticing more adaptions since I started watching Once Upon a Time.)
I have to agree about Kirsten Stewart. Her acting comes across as limited or bland to me, so I’ve felt unsure about how she portrays Snow White. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I am a Charlize Theron fan — I know she can make a gorgeous and wicked queen.
I’d be interested to hear what you think after you see the movie. 🙂
I had to look up “Once Upon A Time” since I hadn’t heard of this. I don’t watch a lot of TV so I tend to miss stuff. It looks great. Do you like it? I think I’m going to have to TiVo it. 🙂
I’ll make sure to blog about it if I see it!
Once Upon a Time is fairly mediocre, I think, but I do like it. The season finale was a bit odd and rushed, though I’m anxious for season two. I love learning character backstories and seeing what fairy tale twists turn up.
I love back stories, too! It’s the untold tale just waiting to be . . . well . .. told. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree with you; Charlize Theron and her performance are the reason to see this movie! I read on IMDb that a sequel is in the works; I think that’s the reason for the somewhat abrupt ending.
Have you seen all the other Snow White movies you listed? I grew up with the one starring Diana Rigg; I loved it. There’s also an hour-long episode of the TV series Faerie Tale Theatre that I loved growing up starring Elizabeth McGovern as Snow White, Vanessa Redgrave as the Queen, and Vincent Price as the Magic Mirror.
I’m so glad to get another opinion on this. Charlize Theron was great, wasn’t she? 🙂 A sequel makes sense, so I’m glad to hear it.
I haven’t seen all the Snow White tales, but I do remember the Faerie Tale theater series. I loved that series! They were selling all of the DVDs at Costco some years ago and the price was cheap!
I did not see the Diana Rigg version. 🙂
I’ve been debating on whether to watch this at some point mainly because I don’t care for Kristen Stewart and honestly, she’s supposed to be the fairest of them all? In that case, they should not have cast Charlize Theron: she’s gorgeous!
If you enjoy fairy tales, you should watch the ABC tv show Once Upon a Time, It’s a new twist to the fairy tales and it’s pretty interesting (it just finished it’s first season not that long ago).
And yet another recommendation for Once Upon A Time! 🙂 I’ve really got to watch it now. What a shame I missed the first season because I didn’t know about it. I love shows like this. Maybe I can get Season 1 from Netflix. Then I’ll have to TiVo Season 2.
I’m thinking the powers that be picked Kristen Stewart because she exudes a kind of gritty, strength (and she’s so popular with the younger set right now). I don’t know, what say you? I agree with you about Charlize Theron though. She was someone to be reckoned with!
They probably DID pick Stewart just because of her Twilight fame, her Twilight followers were bound to follow her to another movie, right? I just don’t see it, I don’t think she’s a very good actress. Oh well!
Hah! Yes, I am sure you’re right. The Twilight craze has powered her stock immensely. I wonder how her performance will be in the movie “On the Road.”
I haven’t heard of that. I tried to watch Adventureland because I like Jesse Eisenberg, but I just couldn’t deal with Stewart.
I’m waiting for Snow White and the Huntsman to come out on PPV. Looking forward to seeing Charlize Theron as the queen though. I especially love the still of her coming out of the milk bath.
Definitely check out Once Upon A Time. Great storyline and the actors are very good.
On a side note: watched Mirror, Mirror with Julia Roberts yesterday. It was silly but fun to watch, much like the Disney version I think. My daughter loved it…my hubby on the other hand had fun comments throughout. He especially had to mention the teeth “twinkling” on the princes. He asked if that was really necessary. Probably the cheesiest part but totally cute.
Oh yes, the scene of her coming out of the milk bath was very dramatic in a creepy kind of way.
I want to watch “Mirror Mirror” too. It does look silly, but we all like our own versions of silly comedies.
I really loved this film, I thought it was fantastic. 🙂 I’d heard a lot of negative review so I was pleasantly suprized. I think the fact that Kristen Stuart didn’t have many lines might have helped with you finding her less annoying. Although her English accent did make me cringe quite a lot…
Hahah. Hmmmm, limited lines for Ms. Stewart and I’m not as annoyed! You just might have something there. 🙂