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SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMANMovie Reviews
Action adventure about Snow White training in the art of war with a huntsman who has been dispatched to kill the evil queen. Cast:Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Chris Hemsworth, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McShaneDirector:Rupert SandersRelease Date:June 1, 2012DVD Release:September 11, 2012From:UniversalRating:PG-13Length:2 hr 7 min
SEPTEMBER 11, 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman, Good (Not Great) Reviews
Snow White and the Huntsman played to good not great reviews. • Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times, "...a film of astonishing beauty and imagination.... there's no room for nuance. The end is therefore predetermined. But, oh, what a ride." • And Andrew O'Hehir called the film for Salon, "...big, crude, cynical and impressive..." More Reviews Below...
Snow White and the Huntsman Positive Reviews (50 Reviews, reviews below)
Mary Pols, Time: VERY GOOD "...thrilling... feels excitingly progressive because it actually represents the victory of inner beauty... breathes new life into an old story."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,228 words, 06/01/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: VERY GOOD(cg) "...thrilling and frightening in equal measure... the performances -- notably from Kristen Stewart as the iconic title character -- don't always live up to the film's visionary promise."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 771 words, 05/31/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...tastefully overbearing... works so hard to transform a quintessential girl story into a girl-and-guy story that it's like three movies in one."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 751 words, 06/01/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a visual marvel... It has a darkness that seeps into the soul... What rankles is that director Rupert Sanders loses his nerve just when the story starts cooking."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 470 words, 06/08/12
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a film of astonishing beauty and imagination.... there's no room for nuance. The end is therefore predetermined. But, oh, what a ride."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 734 words, 06/01/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: EXCELLENT(cg) "...rousing and moving... the real find here is Chris Hemsworth, whose climactic speech to a lost-in-a-spell Snow White is one of the movie's true highlights."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 614 words, 05/30/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (14 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "There is nothing cute about this movie. And that feels right.... There is something exciting about how seriously 'Snow White and the Huntsman' takes its themes."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,056 words, 06/01/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a solemn but mostly savvy rewrite... a welcome upgrade... It's Theron who owns this film, imbuing her deliciously depraved queen with furious pain and deep-seated fear."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 370 words, 06/01/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...an absolute wonder to watch... creates a warrior princess for the ages.... what this revisionist fairy tale does not give us is a passionate love..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 864 words, 06/01/12
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a decided improvement on the wretched 'Mirror Mirror,' but fails to realize the full potential of its ambitiously dark vision.... flawed but entertaining..."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 529 words, 06/01/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "Can Kristen Stewart act? Yes, she can. No, her range isn't infinite. Stewart's emotional honesty and self-effacing, slightly wary charisma have served her well."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 534 words, 06/01/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: WEAK(cg) "...one grim, humorless Renaissance Faire.... wallows in violent battles and morbid special effects.... the cast certainly isn't to blame for this botched film."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 293 words, 06/01/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD "...practically a full-bore horror picture, reminiscent of 'Game of Thrones,' 'Joan of Arc,' and 'Countess Dracula'.... the revisionist tone is startlingly enough to carry you along."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 662 words, 05/28/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a film of astonishing beauty and imagination.... there's no room for nuance. The end is therefore predetermined. But, oh, what a ride."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 734 words, 06/01/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...considerably longer than it needs be... the evocative eloquence of storybook pictures is consistently garbled by the need to overexplain and psychoanalyze."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 203 words, 05/30/12
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: MODERATE(cg) "...a cinematic hodgepodge... There is no sense of this being an ensemble effort... Devoid of flow, it's just a jumble of standalone scenes, not all of them successful."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 636 words, 06/01/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...at times, the medievalism threatens to tip into outrageous theatricality, but Sanders has a happy knack of righting the balance..."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 700 words, 06/01/12
Josep Parera, La Opinion: FAIR(cg) "Intenta ser la versión definitiva y 'adulta' del cuento de los hermanos Grimm. Yo me quedo con la más simple y familiar 'Mirror Mirror': al menos no me aburrió."(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 535 words, 06/01/12
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "Overlong, overcrowded, overstimulating... a deadly cocktail of movie cliches, all of which have been thrown into a blender, set to 'slow' and pureed for two hours."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 579 words, 06/01/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "The mirror? Check. The apple? Check. Evil queen? Check.... not your grandmother's Disney cartoon.... a surprisingly fine, fantastic movie..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 565 words, 06/01/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...finds its commanding tone from the opening shot... it completely transported me... seems less a fiction than a window into a dreamlike alternate reality."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 723 words, 06/01/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "...never quite delivers on its promise... With its sumptuous look and its revisionist take, it has its moments. You just wish it had more of them."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 06/01/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...plays like a dozen pretty good short films and a couple of clinkers hitched together like boxcars. When it aims for dramatic ambiguity, it just seems confused."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 06/01/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...goes for neither mirth nor metaphor... It's all well-staged and seriously played. But there's no humor and any magic is strictly computer-generated."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 551 words, 06/01/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "...takes everything mythic about 'Snow White' and pounds it out until it's flat and dead. It takes something whose truth is elusive and turns it into obvious and trivial."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 690 words, 06/01/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...one of those revisionist fairy tales in which the princess takes control of her own destiny. A different actress might have been able to sell that, but Stewart can't..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 514 words, 06/01/12
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: GOOD(cg) "Sometimes wondrous, sometimes overwrought.... if you've a mind to see a classic fairy tale rendered as an action movie, there are worse ways to spend two hours..."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 499 words, 06/01/12
Roger Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a film of battles and swordfights, murder and revenge.... the dwarfs are the most impressive... But it's not going to make anybody forget the Disney version."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 343 words, 06/01/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: MODERATE(cg) "Stewart seldom seems genuinely engaged with what she's asked to do, thinking nobody will notice her gape-mouthed lack of emotion."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 478 words, 06/01/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "...plays out as a story about mortality and greed and oppression in a fantastical world, but it doesn't act as if anything is silly.... And it works."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 608 words, 06/01/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: WEAK(cg) "...the talented but woefully miscast Stewart is expected to rally an entire army of soldiers, even though she usually looks like she forgot the combination to her locker."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 520 words, 06/01/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (10 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...considerably longer than it needs be... the evocative eloquence of storybook pictures is consistently garbled by the need to overexplain and psychoanalyze."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 203 words, 05/30/12
Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix: WEAK(cg) "...grim... mucks around in the darker regions of the fairy tale.... revels in all that can melt, ooze, disintegrate, or swoop together..."(See all of Betsy Sherman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 144 words, 06/07/12
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: FAIR(cg) "...feints at being the 'Snow White' retelling no one has ever seen before, but ultimately becomes the 'been there, done that' of fairy-tale filmmaking."(See all of Tasha Robinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 568 words, 05/31/12
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...often guilty of trying too hard.... Don't see 'Snow White and the Huntsman' for its ho-hum empowerment message. See it for the killer clothes."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,037 words, 05/31/12
Ed Gonzalez, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "...the film squanders the viewer's goodwill, succumbing to banal, programmatic storytelling.... As feminist fantasy, it's non-committal..."(See all of Ed Gonzalez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 05/30/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: MODERATE(cg) "If 'Huntsman' feels overlong, it's because it's crammed with too much stuff for one movie, and no one aspect gets enough attention.... it ends up unsatisfying all around."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,243 words, 05/29/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "There is nothing cute about this movie. And that feels right.... There is something exciting about how seriously 'Snow White and the Huntsman' takes its themes."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,056 words, 06/01/12
Linda Holmes, NPR: FAIR "What dooms 'Snow White and the Huntsman' is ultimately not how over the top it is, but how dull it is.... everyone involved needed a substantially better script..."(See all of Linda Holmes's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 786 words, 05/31/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...an absolute wonder to watch... creates a warrior princess for the ages.... what this revisionist fairy tale does not give us is a passionate love..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 864 words, 06/01/12
Dana Stevens, Slate: POOR "...a truly dull piece of junk... over-crammed, disjointed, and lugubrious... squanders the dramatic potential inherent in the ancient fairy tale..."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,041 words, 05/31/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a big, crude, cynical and impressive movie that will leave almost any possible viewer with mixed feelings, partly because it kills off its best character..."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,225 words, 05/30/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Brian Lowry, Daily Variety: MODERATE "Handsome but hollow... Conjuring a touch of magic is one thing, but sustaining great helpings of it is something else entirely."(See all of Brian Lowry's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 602 words, 05/31/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "A bold rethinking of a familiar old story and striking design elements are undercut by a draggy mid-section and undeveloped characters..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 857 words, 05/31/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...an absolute wonder to watch... creates a warrior princess for the ages.... what this revisionist fairy tale does not give us is a passionate love..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 864 words, 06/01/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD(cg) "...visually inventive, darkly-toned... strong on technical design, dazzling visual style, and state-of-the-art special effects, but weaker on narrative and characterization."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 924 words, 05/30/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "There is nothing cute about this movie. And that feels right.... There is something exciting about how seriously 'Snow White and the Huntsman' takes its themes."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,056 words, 06/01/12
19.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Snow White and the Huntsman's reviews are separated by an average 19.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Snow White and the Huntsman (50 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Snow White and the Huntsman's reviews cover 96.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 32,294 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 646 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Snow White and the Huntsman Coverage, Volume & Length (50 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 3.5 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Snow White and the Huntsman's reviews on average broke 3.5 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Snow White and the Huntsman's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Snow White and the Huntsman (50 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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