REVIEW: Mirror Mirror

 There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: An evil queen steals control of a kingdom and an exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright.


THE GOOD: Direction and visuals. Mirror Mirror is directed by Tarsem Singh. If there's one thing that you can guarantee about Tarsem movies, it's that they're going to be visually aesthetic. I think most of the movies gorgeous vision comes from the director, along with the awesome production team working hard along side him.. A simple look at Tarsem's past films will reveal films that excel on their visuals. The Cell, The Fall, and Immortals all look great and most definitely have there other shortcomings. Mirror Mirror is of no exception. Tarsem has been wanting to do a non-visual film for a while (his next feature, Eye in the Sky, is supposed to be more straightforward), but when this story fell into his hands, he just couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was meant to be a darker film, but the director decided to go for a more kiddie approach to it. I think he made the right choice, especially when we have a darker version of Snow White coming out later this year called Snow White and the Huntsman.

No caption needed.

Story. What I enjoyed about Mirror Mirror was that it was a complete retelling of the Snow White story. You can throw away just about everything you know of the fairy tale, especially if you are only familiar with the Disney version. There's no huntsman. The dwarfs don't work in a coal mine. And the poison apple... well, I leave that as a surprise. What Tarsem and his writers and producers did with Snow White is empower her character and give girls a decent person to look up to. She's kind to others, she gives money to the those in need, and she literally fights for what she believes in. I wondered why the marketing was being geared so much to mothers and daughters. Part of it still baffles me, but it does make a lot of sense to market this movie to young women. As one of the few live-action films that my four-year-old daughter has seen, she enjoyed it.


THE BAD: Acting. There's a pretty good cast list for this film, but I think a lot of the performances fall short. Even though it's Julia Roberts whose the top bill and appears more on the posters and advertising for this film, it's Lily Collins who stars as Snow White. If you recognize her, but can't really figure out where you've seen her before, perhaps it was in Academy Award Best Picture nominee The Blind Side. She played the Tuohy's daughter, Collins Tuohy. If that's not what you were thinking, maybe you saw her in Abduction with Taylor Lautner, to which I would feel embarrassed for you. Collins has the look; there is no doubt about that. However, her acting just isn't at the caliber needed for such an important role. Experience is experience and I hope she got some good ones in this film because we'll most likely see her in a bunch of stuff in the future. Back to Julia Roberts, she does her job well. It's just sad that she had to play her role in such a loveable and evil way. In many senses, she steals the show, but I don't think she should have. Armie Hammer, who played the Winklevoss Twins in The Social Network won the role as the Prince in Mirror Mirror. He's probably just as cheesy and bad as Collins in this film. Again, looks the part, but just doesn't deliver his lines with any type of authenticity.

I think Julia Roberts has put on a little weight around the thighs area.

THE END: In many ways, Mirror Mirror is a safe movie. The whole family can go and enjoy this movie. None of the actors' reputations will be tarnished by this movie. Tarsem's name as a director won't be any bigger than it was before. If you are a fan of his, you might find things to like about this movie. Otherwise, you don't really need to waste your money and you can wait for it to play on TV. Probably ABC Family.


DISCUSS: What did you think of Mirror Mirror? What is your favorite adaptation of Snow White? What is your favorite Tarsem Singh movie?

Armie Hammer being forced to watch Flicka.