It's been over two weeks since I saw Mirror Mirror but nonetheless I wanted to air my opinion on my blog. However, with A Level work, posting on here isn't my priority and instead I've been adding to a 'what was good/what was bad' post instead of a conventional review. Finally I've finished and, after this little introduction, here's what I thought of Mirror Mirror.
What was good:
You could not cast a more perfect prince for Snow White than Armie Hammer. He’s tall, charming, handsome and features all the mannerisms of a prince. Hammer continues to prove that he is going on to become a tremendous actor and I think his performance as Prince Alcott really deserves a lot of praise. When he needs to be charming; he's charming. When he needs to be a hero; he's a hero. When he needs to be a puppy; he's a puppy. (And when he needs to be topless; he's topless!)
Mirror Mirror is a film for more than one performance though, Julia Roberts is equally fantastic. Her evil queen is really evil but had a pantomime-y comedy to her which makes the film very pleasant to watch as a family film. Nathan Lane is hilarious too, which isn't surprising. There's a definite side kick humour just in his voice and movements, always seeming weak but coming out on top.
'And the award for best costume department goes to...' Visually, Mirror Mirror is stunning. I can't quite think of a film, out in the last few years, that features costume with such refined detail and sheer beauty that the gowns in Mirror Mirror have. I mean, look at the picture of Lily Collins with a swan on her head and Julia Robert's gown. The first is completely bizarre, but both are gorgeous! The colours are vibrant and bold, keeping to the fairytale charm and fitting in to the fairytale family genre.
Alan Menken producing ANY film score will always work for me. I adore everything the man creates (being a huge Disney fan) and it always fits together with a film perfectly. Mirror Mirror isn't Disney, but there is something about it which reminded me of the always happy ending, disney flicks. It's very sweet.
What was ok:
Being both quite good and sometimes flat, are the seven dwarfs. I like the basis of each of their nontraditional names, habits and appearances but their jokes are the same throughout, never really lifting up. Their introduction to the film as the bandits is very comical and their fresh personalities do make for a family viewing as it's very hard to not laugh at some of their jokes.
Up until the last quarter, the dwarfs serve their purpose in the film as the funny bunch who help Snow. But once she's found her rhythm in getting back her throne they kind of just deflate.
The random song and dance at the end. Even though it adds to the spontaneity of the film, I don't think it fitted in. But it's really catchy (I know, I've listened to it more than once since I saw it) and is a nice little fun add on to the end.
What was not as good:
The weak link for Mirror Mirror is, sadly, Snow White herself. Lily Collins lets Snow be very pretty and sweet, but that's about it. She's not anywhere near as likable or compelling as Prince Alcott or the Queen and Snow's scenes, with the exception of the last 15 minutes, lack excitement. With what she's been given, Collins does gives Snow a good try in the more nontraditional, fight scenes and it's not that the character is unlikable. But when Roberts and Hammer make the Queen and Prince really quirky, fun and pleasing, the Princess needs to be more than that to shine. Collins will have her outbreak soon I'm sure, but Mirror Mirror doesn't allow her to stand out.
Despite my little criticism of dissatisfaction at the end, I enjoyed Mirror Mirror a lot. I found it fun, cheesy in places, cute and everything a Grimm fairytale tale needs to be in a film. After finding the trailer amusing in a bad way, I'm glad the film went on to surprise me because deep down, I kind of knew it wasn't going to be rubbish. There are a few places I could pick out that didn't work, but overall it's worth a watch.
However I am excited to see how Snow White and the Huntsman will compete later this year.
Mirror, Mirror 3.5/5
Mirror Mirror trailer
What was good:
You could not cast a more perfect prince for Snow White than Armie Hammer. He’s tall, charming, handsome and features all the mannerisms of a prince. Hammer continues to prove that he is going on to become a tremendous actor and I think his performance as Prince Alcott really deserves a lot of praise. When he needs to be charming; he's charming. When he needs to be a hero; he's a hero. When he needs to be a puppy; he's a puppy. (And when he needs to be topless; he's topless!)Mirror Mirror is a film for more than one performance though, Julia Roberts is equally fantastic. Her evil queen is really evil but had a pantomime-y comedy to her which makes the film very pleasant to watch as a family film. Nathan Lane is hilarious too, which isn't surprising. There's a definite side kick humour just in his voice and movements, always seeming weak but coming out on top.
'And the award for best costume department goes to...' Visually, Mirror Mirror is stunning. I can't quite think of a film, out in the last few years, that features costume with such refined detail and sheer beauty that the gowns in Mirror Mirror have. I mean, look at the picture of Lily Collins with a swan on her head and Julia Robert's gown. The first is completely bizarre, but both are gorgeous! The colours are vibrant and bold, keeping to the fairytale charm and fitting in to the fairytale family genre.
Alan Menken producing ANY film score will always work for me. I adore everything the man creates (being a huge Disney fan) and it always fits together with a film perfectly. Mirror Mirror isn't Disney, but there is something about it which reminded me of the always happy ending, disney flicks. It's very sweet.
What was ok:
Up until the last quarter, the dwarfs serve their purpose in the film as the funny bunch who help Snow. But once she's found her rhythm in getting back her throne they kind of just deflate.
The random song and dance at the end. Even though it adds to the spontaneity of the film, I don't think it fitted in. But it's really catchy (I know, I've listened to it more than once since I saw it) and is a nice little fun add on to the end.
What was not as good:
The weak link for Mirror Mirror is, sadly, Snow White herself. Lily Collins lets Snow be very pretty and sweet, but that's about it. She's not anywhere near as likable or compelling as Prince Alcott or the Queen and Snow's scenes, with the exception of the last 15 minutes, lack excitement. With what she's been given, Collins does gives Snow a good try in the more nontraditional, fight scenes and it's not that the character is unlikable. But when Roberts and Hammer make the Queen and Prince really quirky, fun and pleasing, the Princess needs to be more than that to shine. Collins will have her outbreak soon I'm sure, but Mirror Mirror doesn't allow her to stand out.
Despite my little criticism of dissatisfaction at the end, I enjoyed Mirror Mirror a lot. I found it fun, cheesy in places, cute and everything a Grimm fairytale tale needs to be in a film. After finding the trailer amusing in a bad way, I'm glad the film went on to surprise me because deep down, I kind of knew it wasn't going to be rubbish. There are a few places I could pick out that didn't work, but overall it's worth a watch.
However I am excited to see how Snow White and the Huntsman will compete later this year.
Mirror, Mirror 3.5/5
Mirror Mirror trailer
I think I agreed to watch this because I read your tweets and comments about it and I ended up liking it! I laughed, even if it were obvious situations. And I agree, the clothes are stunning!
ReplyDeleteLove your review!