Review: Snow White (Live-Action 2025)

I was on the fence about reviewing the new Snow White remake for a while, but since this is The Princess Blog, it's only fair. (See what I did there?) This movie has been the source of endless controversy over the past five years or so. Some of it was unfounded, particularly when it involved racist comments toward the lead actress, but some of it is justified. When the movie was first announced, I shared my thoughts about how the story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" has already been retold countless times by other studios in a way that modernized it with respect toward the original fairy tale and didn't step on Walt Disney's legacy. Creating a blatant copy of the first feature-length animated movie of all time and taking away the one thing that made it special—the animation—is an insult to the animation medium as an art form. My stance on this has not changed, so here are my thoughts on this sham of a film.

Ever since the backlash to Rachel Zegler's comments at the D23 Expo about how Snow White wouldn't be dreaming of true love or be rescued, Snow White has been in development hell, enduring countless delays and reshoots to shoehorn these things back into the movie. Snow White's forced relationship with a bandit named Jonathan, who invades her castle and robs her kitchen, is not the least bit believable and feels incredibly out of place with the rest of the story. Not only that, but the two characters look like they are from completely different worlds. Snow White dons a cheap Halloween costume with blindingly bright fluorescent colors, while every other character wears muted fabrics that display modern silhouettes. Costuming has been a recurring issue with Disney's last few live-action remakes, but at least those managed to create a cohesive aesthetic. When Snow White and Jonathan sing their "romantic" duet, "A Hand Meets Hand," they look like they are in two different settings.

The attempt to create nostalgia for the original movie while following the modern feminist trends gives the movie a sense of whiplash. Every single homage to the original film feels forced into the mold of everything that modern Disney stands for today. Disney feels the need to apologize for the original portrayal of the dwarfs by making them magical beings who have lived in the woods for 250 years and look like uncanny nightmare fuel. Grumpy calls himself "misunderstood," and Dopey is presented as a tragic figure who needs to overcome his speech anxiety instead of a simple and lovable comedic character. The few songs that remain from the original film are heavily edited, such as "Whistle While You Work," in which Snow White commands the dwarfs to clean their own house instead of doing them a favor for letting her stay in their home. Any song referencing love is replaced with more modern feminist melodies, but that doesn't explain the absence of "With a Smile and a Song," which could have been the perfect source of optimism to counteract all the hatred against this movie.

Even though this movie is far from an exact copy of the original, most of the additions are derivative of other versions of Snow White that have already been done. Over a decade ago, in 2012, both Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman portrayed the legendary heroine leading a rebellion against the evil queen with a more satisfying downfall for the vain villainess. Disney even incorporated a similar climax to the one they used in this film in their Elena of Avalor premiere movie. At one point in the movie, Snow White thinks she might be able to seek the dwarfs' help to find her long-lost father. This same storyline took place in Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs. No matter which way you look, there is not an ounce of originality in this movie. If it had forsaken the original animation entirely by giving Snow White a costume that matched the setting and removing the hideous CGI dwarfs, it could have been more watchable. Even seamlessly recreating the original animation in live-action would have been somewhat of an accomplishment, though probably not one worth celebrating.

Disney's live-action Snow White remake is a mess of conflicting ideologies, poorly executed nostalgia, and unoriginal storytelling. By trying to appease both fans of the original and modern feminist sensibilities, the film ends up feeling disjointed and insincere. With its lackluster romance, cringeworthy attempts at homage, and derivative plot twists, this movie fails to deliver on even the most basic levels. Ultimately, it's a soulless retread of a classic tale, devoid of the magic and charm that made the original so beloved. If Disney wanted to truly reimagine "Snow White" for a new era, they should have taken more risks and offered something genuinely new instead of this uninspired, unoriginal, and utterly forgettable remake.