The first Disney Princess to grace the screen in 1937 was Snow White, and it seems they enjoy remaking her story. This iteration of the classic fairytale is possibly the most accurate. Snow White (2025) looks like a carbon copy of the animated feature with more songs added and a fearless modern characterization of the title character.
For the first time in a while, a Disney live-action looked colourful and had some beautifully executed musical numbers. Although Snow White (2025) was not marketed heavily as a musical most of the numbers involving the dwarves and Snow White (Rachel Zegler) are wholesome and nostalgic.
Co-writers Erin Cressida Wilson and Jacob Grimm went back to the roots of Disney princess magic by giving our princess a much-needed backstory with her parents ruling the Kingdom. We see the love between them and feel her loss when she is taken as a prisoner by the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) after her father doesn’t return.
Rachel Zegler is a bonafide star and the perfect choice to portray Snow White. Apart from her beautiful singing voice, she’s endearing and exudes this genuine warmth that comes with a Disney Princess. She is charismatic and carried the entire film on her back. She also had great chemistry with the charming bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) who took this playful banter throughout.
The main issue with the film is Gal Gadot’s portrayal of the Evil Queen. Director Marc Webb tried to pull some sort of performance out of her, but it felt stale and robotic, void of any emotional substance or gravitas. She would attempt to try something to make her character menacing, but her delivery lacked everything an Evil Queen would be.
Most of her scenes were difficult to watch because the tone immediately shifted when she was on screen. An argument can be made that she was campy and exaggerated on purpose but for some reason, she isn’t believable as an actress. It should be a fun role to play because of the lengths an actor can go to, but most of her flourishes and deliveries were laughable. The one thing that masked her performance not being on par with her co-stars was the beautiful costumes she wore during her musical numbers and scenes.
It's difficult to watch a film and feel so good about parts of it only to be dragged down by a character that should have also come out shining. Zegler and the dwarves saved this film from turning out worse and that’s because of her charm and the reinvention of Snow White’s story. The dwarves may rub people the wrong way at first but the spirit of those characters shines through. It’s quite funny that Dopey ended up being one of the best supporting characters in the film.
Snow White (2025) has some wonderful moments and vibrant musical numbers led by Rachel Zegler. She is a star in the making and will continue to shine. The fact that she is part of the Disney legacy as a princess couldn’t be more fitting for her career. However, the film is poorly edited and doesn’t flow effortlessly into each scene. That’s why there were bits and pieces of good with some mediocre sprinkled throughout, and somehow, it’s still enjoyable.
3/5
Review by: Amanda Guarragi
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