If only Snow White could have captured half the drama that its off-screen promotional tour did, it might have garnered higher marks from critics.
The movie, which opens Friday, polarized reviewers ahead of its release with many panning Disney’s latest offering for a wide range of reasons. It currently stands at 48 percent on Rotten Tomatoes—not terrible, but not that great either.
Despite hailing from Disney’s oldest source material—the 1937 film, after all, not only introduced the world to the studio’s first princess but pioneered Disney’s animation—it is not Snow White’s story that audiences have been gravitating toward for the past few years but its leading stars, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
The film has faced relentless scrutiny since its production began in 2022. Bigots brandished it as “woke” for casting a Latina actress in the titular role.
Zegler became a lightning rod herself when she described the original film as “outdated,” prompting a round of right-wing backlash and endless scrutiny of the actress’s public statements.
Another misstep came when the studio opted to erase the “seven dwarves” from the film’s production, instead turning them into what many critics have described as a CGI nightmare.
The question for viewers quickly became: Could the beloved fairytale finally be able to outshine the countless headlines nitpicking Zegler’s every move?
It appears not.
Rolling Stone’s David Fear explicitly wrote in his review Wednesday: “The controversy that’s been drummed up around this curiously lifeless retelling from director Marc Webb will almost certainly be the only thing folks remember about this particular take on the fairest of them all.”
“After the lights went down, the hope was that the brouhaha happening outside the theater would fade into the background and all that would matter would be what was happening onscreen,” Fear continued. “Instead, you may find yourself wishing that one-seventh of the high drama playing out behind the scenes had somehow made it into what feels like a nightmare pandering to Disney adults.”
Likewise, for the Daily Beast’s Nick Schager, Snow White was crowned the “lamest Mouse House re-do of them all.”
“From a strictly political standpoint, it provides a more enlightened portrait of female independence,” Schager explained. “Such a nominal improvement, however, proves inherently incompatible with its source material, and the resultant awkwardness defines this misfire, whose every duplication is underwhelming, and whose every alteration is less a move in the right direction than a step on a face-smacking rake.”
Although critics seemed to largely agree that Zegler and Gadot gave worthy performances—as is the case with most Disney live-action remakes—the studio’s flailing CGI and continuous missteps while trying to balance novelty and nostalgia sidelined the pair’s best efforts with a whole lot of “garishly ugly” set pieces instead.
“I don’t actually know how to judge these live action Disney remakes on any relative scale of quality. The bar is so low, and what people seem to want from them … feels so different from the usual standards,” Vulture’s Alison Willmore wrote.
“Snow White is not as bad as it could be, while not being anywhere near good? It’s better than, say, Aladdin, which was awful but nevertheless made a literal billion dollars,” she continued, going on to describe the film as “garishly ugly” and “devoid of delight.”
IndieWire’s Kate Erbland seemed to agree with Snow White being a little more than half-baked, describing the film as “not great, but certainly good.”
“For those film fans willing to embrace the most obvious updates and upgrades to a story over 200 years old, Snow White will likely please,” Erbland said. “That’s not to say every choice made here (even some of the ‘controversial’ ones!) sticks the landing.”
“It doesn’t always fit seamlessly together, but it’s far more entertaining than that might lead on,” she continued.
Other critics sung the film’s praises as sweetly as its eponymous heroine does by her wishing well.
“If Snow White arrives accompanied by an echo chamber of overblown online controversies, that has zero bearing on the pleasures of this 21st century update. Even those with knives out for the movie might have to admit it’s no poisoned apple,” The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney wrote.
“The incandescent Zegler sells it with conviction and heart,” Rooney continued. “Gadot is an imperious presence in lots of chunky power jewelry.”
Though Rooney admitted the “poorly integrated CGI little people take some getting used to,” the film is still “the type of wholesome and uplifting family entertainment that comes directly from old-school Disney DNA.”
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman similarly noted that Snow White is “one of the better live-action adaptations of a Disney animated feature” and is “lighter, more frolicsome,”and “less lead-footed” than other Disney remakes like Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland.
“In the end, the most resonant romantic feeling Snow White leaves you with may be: Someday my chintz authoritarian will come tumbling down,” he quipped.
Snow White is so far estimated to target between $45 million to $55 million domestically in its opening weekend, according to Variety. For reference, Disney’s last live-action princess adaptation, 2023’s The Little Mermaid, opened to $117.5 million domestically over Memorial Day weekend.
