Snow White Review: An Underwhelming Trip to an Uncanny Valley

It was only a matter of time before Disney’s live-action adaptation train made its way to the station of one of the studio’s earliest animated endeavors. 2025’s Snow White attempts to recreate the classic fairy tale for a new generation, bringing together the “fairest of them all” with her traditional ensemble of dwarves, evil witches, and woodland creatures. Does the latest take on Snow White manage to do justice to its source material while carving out its own identity in the cinematic wastelands? Unfortunately, Disney’s latest live-action foray might excel at sticking to its origins but fails to convince many to hit theaters to see it.

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Rachel Zegler takes on the role of the titular princess, a young girl whose kingdom is a flawless one, learning from her even-tempered, saccharine parents how to be the best princess she can be. When her mother falls to illness, Gal Gadot’s “Evil Queen” swoops in to wed the heartbroken king to transform the kingdom from a happy community to a fear-driven monarchy. White eventually finds herself setting forth to return her kingdom to its former glory after a failed murder attempt and encounters quite a few familiar faces, and fauna, during her familiar quest.

Snow White’s story is a timeless one and the live-action movie does a worthy job of staying true to the formula, though this fact is both a blessing and a curse in Zegler’s vehicle. There isn’t a lot of meat on the bone here in terms of overall plot, and while there are some changes made to how things progress in the adaptation’s story, said changes don’t elevate what’s on the screen. The added elements feel like little more than window dressing, especially when it comes to the film’s finale, which attempts to invoke a new meaning behind White’s expedition, but ultimately falls short in doing so.

Rachel Zegler is the star of the show here, lighting up the screen and belting out old and new tunes with the best of them. Snow White as a character isn’t a revolutionary one, but Zegler works exceptionally well with what is given to her, living up to her “fairest of them all” title throughout. Zegler’s performance is one that understood the assignment and the young actor effortlessly plays off whoever is sharing her scenes, whether that be exceptionally irritable dwarves or an evil queen deadset on maintaining her iron grip on her peasantry.

Speaking of evil queens, Gal Gadot’s performance as the film’s main antagonist feels like one of the biggest knocks against the movie overall, seemingly unable to bring anything truly exceptional to the role. The remake attempts to give us a little more exploration of what makes the queen tick, but falls far short in making the villain an interesting character. There are allusions in the run time to Gadot’s character becoming a cold-hearted ruler thanks to a lifetime of woe, chiseling her from “a rose to a diamond” but offers little in the way of convincing audiences why they should care. Even the queen’s new songs feel more like unnecessary window-dressing than anything else. On the plus side, Gadot’s take on the “old hag” will have you wondering if it’s actually Gal in the trappings or if a new actress threw on the cloak. Surprisingly, it’s the former.

Not every character in the new Snow White happens to be a human being, as the live-action adaptation does bring in the Seven Dwarves to give the titular character a helping hand. It is in the dwarves that we venture into the Uncanny Valley as the CG creations are a little unsettling in their appearances. The best way I found myself describing the likes of Doc, Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Grouchy, Bashful, and Sneezy is the idea that a dwarf-sized container was made and a regular person was poured into said computer-generated apparatus. The dwarves themselves feel like a perfect representation of the movie’s issues in its attempts to thread the needle between old and new, ultimately falling short at both. That being said, the CG used to bring to life the forest animals was quite breathtaking in the grand scheme of things, making the dwarves’ appearances all the more puzzling and leaving you wondering why the dwarves needed to be CG characters at all.

Of course, with a movie like Snow White, it would be a disservice to not touch upon the soundtrack. As mentioned earlier, while Gadot’s performances don’t quite excel, the rest of the songs here go a long way in making this a whistle-worthy expedition. Denj Pasek and Justin Paul manage to both modernize tried and true tracks such as “Whistle While You Work” and “Hi Ho” while also introducing some toe-tapping entries such as “Waiting on a Wish” and “Good Things Grow.” The film’s soundtrack doesn’t necessarily break the mold, but you might find yourself humming a tune or two upon leaving the theater and realizing that Disney still has its amazing power to create earworms.

Snow White is a movie that is not meant for everyone, aimed at a far younger audience than many of its live-action brethren. There’s nothing wrong with trimming a story for a younger set, especially when it comes to a story as timeless as this one, but the movie fails when it comes to delivering a story that excels past its source material or adding noteworthy discussion for audiences.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Snow White lands in theaters on March 21st.