This story’s only skin deep
Mirror, Mirror 1/2 (out of 4) Starring Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane. Directed by Tarsem Singh. 106 minutes. Opens March 30 at major theatres. PG The first volley in the froth-vs.-goth wars between two film versions of the Snow White fairytale has been fired with Mirror, Mirror.
It opens Friday, two months ahead of the June 1 bow for the more sinister-looking Snow White and the Huntsman.
Mirror, Mirror takes itself less seriously, presenting a pink confection of slapstick laughs and swashbuckling heroics that references the classic Disney cartoon liberally, with sly winks to the genre — right down to cliché teeth twinkles.
The story gets a 2012 girl-power update: no more waiting for a prince to save the day.
Women don’t escape the fairytale slap-down entirely, however; the villain is still a vain old gal who can’t deal with all of her stepdaughter’s fabulousness. But this Snow White will see to her own destiny.
Director Tarsem Singh certainly knows his way around fantasy filmmaking ( Immortals, The Fall) but can he also bring a light touch to the dramatics? It’s a legitimate question in the face of the horribly overwrought Immortals. Turns out he can, although don’t look for much more than that. This rambling version of Snow White’s tale is a pretty, spun-sugar confection, airy as a plate of Easter egg-coloured macarons and similarly devoid of substance.
Everything about Mirror, Mirror echoes old-school animation and the entire thing is gorgeous, from the high-concept snow-covered forest to a human form of a game of Battleship, where three-masted vessels nestle atop players’ heads like fanciful hats.
This is the last film for Oscar-winning ( Dracula) Japanese costume designer Eiko Ishioka, who died in January. She and Singh teamed earlier on Immortals, The Fall and The Cell, and it’s fitting that the film is dedicated to her, given the lift her work gives Mirror, Mirror. The elaborate costumes are stunning, especially the fanciful animalthemed masked ball outfits with over-the-top headdresses.
Julia Roberts stars as The Queen, nasty stepmother to Snow White (Lily Collins and her massive eyebrows), sliding from America’s sweetheart to icily evil beauty with ease. Easily bored and self-absorbed, the years are piling up and Queenie is hardly happy about it, using a magical mirror with a surprising inhabitant to keep herself looking fresh.
The Queen’s devoted servant Brighton (Nathan Lane doing a fantastic Nathan Lane) simpers and cowers as he reluctantly does all her bidding. There’s no retirement plan for toadies in this kingdom.
Snow spends most of her time locked up in her bedroom, missing her father, the King, who disappeared in the woods where he was likely devoured by the beast who lives there. Now 18, she’d like to get out of her room occasionally, but The Queen has other plans for her.
The arrival of a handsome prince (Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott) stirs the pot. He’s buff and a bit of a buffoon, but the Queen sees a chance to help the kingdom she’s bankrupted with her excesses by marrying him. Too bad he only has eyes for Show White, a wrinkle the Queen deals with by ordering Brighton to drop her rival off in the woods to be part of a beast buffet.
Jason Keller, whose last screen- play was for the ham-fisted Machine Gun Preacher, delivers whimsy by the bucket here, teaming the abandoned Snow up with seven rebel forest dwellers who don’t take well to being called dwarves. Onetime model citizens and business owners banished to the woods by the Queen for looking “different,” they’ve found amusing means to measure up and prefer to make money the Robin Hood way rather than by toiling in a mine. Among them, we meet Grub (Joe Gnoffo), who loves food, perpetually lovesick Half Pint (Mark Povinelli) and writer Grimm (Danny Woodburn). London, Ont., actor Jordan Prentice plays Napoleon, the de facto leader of the group without a short man syndrome. Collins, daughter of musician Phil, does well in her first big leading role as a lively Snow, showing a good comic sensibility. But those Groucho Marx eyebrows are a constant distraction. From the Cgi-created castle to the Bollywood-inspired final dance number, Mirror, Mirror is aimed straight at the eyeballs. But it bypasses the heart in the process.