Mirror Mirror
Ousted from her rightful place on the throne, Princess Snow White (Lily Collins) is tasked with overthrowing her stepmother, the evil Queen (Julia Roberts), and returning harmony to her kingdom. Mixing things up, the dashing Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer) is torn between who will get his hand in marriage, the Queen and her magic spells or the true love of Snow White. Backed by the support of seven outcast and thieving dwarves Snow White must stand up for what she believes in, but is it already too late?
No stranger to incorporating Middle Eastern themes, color schemes, and artistic direction into Western cinema, Director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) steps up to the plate in this revival of the well known Grimm’s fairy tale to provide color, humor, and his unique imaginative perspective. Now, it’s understandable that some might want to write this one off as “just for kids†given what many have already been exposed to through the Disney lens; but, it’s important to remember that the stories the Grimm brothers wrote were often quite grisly, and now days pose as questionable choices of what we would expose children to. That being said, the screenwriters for Mirror Mirror and Tarsem have done a clever job weaving not only the darkness, and truthfully this one isn’t that dark, but also several layers of comedic flavour to keep younger and older audiences entertained alike. Acting feels up to par for an imaginary tale such as this. And, the unique costume stylings designed by Tarsem favorite, the late Eiko Ishioka, come across as particularly striking and creative with the occasional hat tip to Disney. Plus, what would a Tarsem fairy tale be without a Bollywood dance number in the credits to cap things off? Yep, it happens. Matinee fun, and maybe a date movie…maybe? Mirror Mirror is rated PG.