Magic mirror on the wall, what is the worst movie of all?
87 years after the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered in 1938, Disney released a live action “Snow White” on March 21, 2025. The film was highly anticipated, as much controversy surrounded the cast and the choices and changes made in terms of the plot. However, I tried to go into the film with an open-mind and ignore the negative reviews I heard prior to watching.
I have never sat in a completely empty theater before, but to my surprise when my mom and I entered the movie there was not a single person in sight. At first I considered it to be because it was the middle of the day, and most people do not have time to watch a movie during lunch. However, as the movie carried on, I realized that the negative reviews circulating the internet were there for a reason. The music, animation, acting and directorial choices were all lacking. Prior Disney live action films, while not amazing, at least tried to keep to the plotline and the messaging of their stories. This “Snow White” completely threw the original plot, and some songs, out of the window.
A huge point of change in this movie was the music. On top of changing Snow White’s classic, beloved and slightly scary high pitched voice [which I would like to add is completely achievable for Rachel Zegler], they also removed and added songs that completely changed the story. While I understand that in this day and age, a princess does not need a prince to save her, “I’m Wishing” is such a classic Disney song that I thought Zegler would be able to sing beautifully.
A big point of tension in the buildup to the release of this movie was the choice to make the seven dwarfs animated, rather than using little people. There are many little people in the industry who no doubt would have appreciated the roles, but Disney opted to make them fully animated. This ended up looking very strange, as they looked very realistic in an obviously non-real way. Beyond that, there was a little person who was casted in a different role. Aside from the dwarves, the animation of aspects like woodland creatures and special effects was probably one of the better points of this film.
Rachel Zegler played Snow White which, again, sparked tension because she, herself, is not white. To adjust to this change, some light plot points in the beginning of the movie were changed to match. Zegler has a beautiful singing voice, that much to no one can deny, but her acting is very adapted to where her roots lie: in musical theater. Everything felt like she was constantly addressing the audience. The most controversial casting was Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. While she is very beautiful and can be considered to fit that aspect of the part, I have to say that I really did not enjoy her performance. A song was added for her character, and let’s just say that it did not help her case of being a good actor in any way, shape or form.
The film itself felt very cheesy. The way it was filmed seemed to only be made dynamic through the bright colors it showed every now and then. The costumes were all very tacky, the coloring switched between grey and yellow and the way it was filmed was boring. It really did not draw my attention.
Overall, I would say that this film is a sort of disappointment to the original princess film. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” kicked off the creation of so many wonderful princess movies and is truly a fan favorite for a reason, and I hate to say it but this live action recreation really is such a let down.
