After postponement, controversy, and much more, the live action Snow White movie hit theaters March 21st, 2025. Receiving a 40% rotten tomatoes, 1.6/10 on IMDb, and a 3/5 on Common Sense Media, the reviews aren’t exactly encouraging. It’s safe to say that many people hate this movie, but I personally enjoyed it.
I cannot sit here and say that it is exactly like the original and was a good adaptation of it, because that would be a lie, but the movie by itself was really good. The original movie VS the live action have very distinct differences.
For one, the love interests are different. In the original the love interest was a prince, while in the live action, he was a bandit. Originally the name “Snow White” was because of her complexion, but in the live action, it was because of the snowy weather conditions during her birth. That was a huge controversy among critics–the fact that the actress Rachel Zegler (playing Snow White) did not have skin as white as snow did not sit well with people.
On the topic of Rachel Zegler, beyond the issues people had with her race, they had a problem with her attitude. There are many things that she has said in regards to Snow White that have made people upset, one of which is a comment made in an interview talking about how the original Snow White has “a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird!”
Though I agree that she exaggerated a bit, there is no reason for so much hate for that statement. I actually liked the new love interest, named Jonathan, in the live action. I personally found Prince Florian to be a bit boring, while Jonathan gave a nice tone of humor as well as more adventurous action.
Zegler also received hate for stating in an interview that she went on Snow White’s Scary Adventures at Disney World as a child, was scared, and didn’t reconnect with Snow White’s story until filming the live action. In my opinion, that’s a valid reason for not being Snow White’s biggest fan until booking the role. People are entitled to having a change of opinions.
Another major controversy was with the film’s Seven Dwarfs. Instead of hiring actors with dwarfism, the producers decided to use CGI. Some people were angry at the fact that there was a huge opportunity for these actors to get a good role, but it was taken away from them with the use of CGI instead. As others have pointed out, however, if Disney did hire little people actors, it could be seen as insulting to the actors themselves, as the original Seven Dwarfs are portrayed as bumbling and somewhat foolish. Some say that it would have fallen into typecasting and we should move away from that. In my opinion, there is just no perfect solution in this situation.
Moving away from the controversies, the movie itself was very enjoyable for me. I liked the songs, vocals, and story. I thought Rachel Zegler presented a great performance. There was only one moment in the whole movie where I didn’t like her acting–when she was ordered to be killed by the Queen, she didn’t look scared at all and she did something weird with her jaw that was distracting.
I loved the dwarfs. I thought the CGI worked out well and the classic song “Heigh-Ho” combined with the visuals was great. Each dwarf had their personalities shine through, which made me love each character. I thought the song ‘Whistle While You Work’ was so cute, and incorporating the dwarfs in the way they did was so enjoyable. Critics thought that it was weird that the dwarfs didn’t match the way Snow White looked, but I didn’t really mind it. To me, the dwarfs are more seen as magical characters rather than actual little people, so them looking different than Snow White isn’t that bothersome.
I only have two critiques from there. Gal Gadot’s acting as the Evil Queen is one. Her vocals were good enough, but her acting threw me off a lot. It just wasn’t as powerful as an evil Queen should be. I also did not like Snow White’s dress and hair. It was just very unappealing and seemed like they didn’t really try with the costuming.
Overall, the movie is very good. Although it’s not an exact copy of the original, on its own it is very pleasing to watch, and I’d recommend watching it with a more open mind.
