REVIEW: "Snow White" (2025)

WRITER'S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on March 28, 2025. 

Let’s be honest: the Disney company hasn’t had a good track record over the past decade when it comes to live-action remakes of titles from their animation canon. Sure, there have been some exceptions (Cinderella and The Jungle Book, anybody?), as well as a few shot-for-shot entries (I’m looking at you, 2019 Lion King). But compared with their hand-drawn predecessors, the critical and audience receptions to many of these releases reminds us that some classics are best left untouched. But perhaps no Disney remake has generated more negative publicity than the new version of the animation department’s inaugural full-length feature from 1937. 

Starting Rachel Zegler as the titular princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, Snow White—without the dwarfs in the title—features a plot where the main heroine wishes not for true love, but to rule her father’s kingdom one day, with the values and lessons that she was taught, including kindness, fairness, bravery, and truth (all very noble, to be sure). Early reviews have suggested that this Snow White may not be as bad as people assumed or predicted it would be. Now that I have seen the movie, I agree with that. To a degree. 

Frankly, though, this was almost one of the rare cases where I didn’t want to go see a potential box-office tentpole, as the teaser trailer didn’t have me convinced at first. Not to mention the fact that the original holds such a special place in my childhood (as it does for a lot of people), as both a captivating and seminal piece of film and animation history. I did think the second trailer was a little better, all things considered. 

Nevertheless, I do understand why many people are upset with this movie. Zegler (who was phenomenal as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story) is undeniably talented and noteworthy. She makes the titular role her own, displaying layers of warmth, sweetness, and understanding. On the other hand, her initial comments on the animated classic being “dated,” as well as her political views on social media, were not. Gal Gadot, meanwhile, has faced some backlash of her own in recent years, regarding her stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, even though the Wonder Woman actress does a fair job as the wicked and manipulative Queen. 

Another big issue with this Snow White is its reported $270 million budget, particularly its overuse of CGI. One big question is, why make the dwarfs this way? Sure, Doc, Grumpy, and Dopey are more front and center than the other, more forgettable, incarnations. But why not hire actual dwarfish actors for these roles? It’s otherwise uncanny—and head-scratching when one key character is given a voice. It’s very much the same way the fairies in 2014’s Maleficent were interpreted, only with a little more personality here. Pixar co-founder and former Disney CCO John Lasseter once said, “The animation of the dwarfs themselves [in the original] is something pretty much impossible to achieve in computer animation. That fluidity, that squash and stretch, that kind of stuff - it just works in hand-drawn animation." Fun fact: Grumpy did make a brief cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet, as a convincing CG avatar. 

Admittedly, the CGI animals are cute. Jeff Morrow’s score is magical, as is that firefly scene. And Sandy Powell’s costume designs (particularly the Queen’s) are exquisite. Even the poetry of apples—how they were used to bring people together, in contrast to how the Queen/Old Hag poisons one to try and kill Snow White—is quite intriguing. Although there are a few intense situations and emotional stakes here, action and peril are not on par with the scarier vibes of the original. 

Pastor Greg Laurie (of Harvest Ministries) recently did an insightful review of the 1937 film and this new one, and I agree with what he said about how the original is a “moral fable” about good and evil. The new version does have that same spiritual conflict, as well as the visual theme of a once-prosperous kingdom that has become corrupted and poisoned—like that infamous apple—and is fought to be restored to its rightful glory. But the new Snow White also has a political agenda—another reason many people are upset, given our culture’s current “woke” status. Consider Snow White’s more proactive, warrior spirit here (similar to Tim Burton’s 2010 take on Alice in Wonderland), not to mention a love interest that’s not a prince. Like the central kingdom that forgets what it once was, so too does this movie. 

The overall effect may be profound, but it’s not ethereal. Some of the new songs and additional lyrics by duo Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (of La La Land and The Greatest Showman), while dynamic and full of nostalgia, are lackluster—with the possible exception of the powerful anthem “Waiting on a Wish.” What we have instead is a divisive, predictable, contrived, and underwhelming remake a la Beauty and the Beast from 2017. Again, some film classics are best left untouched and as they were. Ironically, maybe more people will appreciate that animated landmark for the first time in years. It sure could use it. (In comparison, that one still holds up.) 

One more thing: maybe this Snow White will be the remake that convinces audiences and studio heads to get back to what made Disney appealing and universal to begin with, and to put said remake machine to rest. No offense to Snow White’s sleeping death. 

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