MIRROR MIRROR

Mirror Mirror (2012)
Grade: B
Starring: Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane, Robert Emms, and Mare Winningham, with Jordan Prentice, Mark Povinelli, Joe Gnoffo, Danny Woodburn, Sebastian Saraceno, Martin Klebba and Ronald Lee Clark as the Dwarves
PREMISE: When she finds out her stepmother, the queen, has been letting her once-joyous kingdom suffer and starve while tending exclusively to her own "needs", sheltered princess Snow White breaks out of the castle and seeks allies for a rebellion.


RATED PG (contains action, some scary moments/images, and some rude humor)
Not gonna lie: I felt really dumb buying a ticket to see Mirror, Mirror.

After all, I’m a twenty-four year old guy, going alone--in the middle of the day--to see a new adaptation of the classic Snow White fairy tale the day it came out. And it isn’t even the gothic horror action spectacle (Snow White and the Huntsman) expected to thrill mature audiences this summer; it’s the PG-rated one that’s supposed to be a lot more family friendly and reminiscent of the classic Disney cartoon. Nonetheless, to be an effective movie critic, I need to see the big-name movies that are making a splash-at or before the time they’re making that splash-so, for this weekend, it came down to two new-release titles: Mirror Mirror and Wrath of the Titans. Yes, the man in me really wanted to make it Wrath, to see Sam Worthington do the Sam Worthington thing—hack up computerized baddies in front of a green screen while shouting and squinting into the distance—so, I thought “I might as well get the unpleasant business out of the way”, thinking I’d save the real treat for tomorrow, after work.

Surprise! Wrath has big shoes to fill, as Mirror Mirror proved to be a great time at the movies, its nearly-perfect combination of action, romance and humor effectively surpassing the realm of standard kiddie fair, and landing in the all-ages-welcome entertainment section.

Plot: Unfortunately for Snow White, her queen mother died giving birth to her, and her beloved father later rode off into the woods and was never seen or heard from again. As a young woman (Lily Collins), she’s all but locked in a secluded tower in the castle of her stepmother (Julia Roberts), a beautiful queen and a powerful enchantress. It is by sheer chance that Snow-on a forbidden excursion outside the castle to see for herself the impoverished condition of the commoners-meets Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer) heir to the throne of a wealthy neighboring kingdom. At the time she meets him, however, he’s only in his underwear, himself and his squire (Robert Emms) having been robbed and entrapped by seven peculiar men who live in a secret lair nearby. Learning that Snow snuck out-and of her and the handsome Alcott’s immediate mutual attraction-the queen tells her right hand (Nathan Lane) to either execute her or leave her in the woods to be devoured by the fabled Beast that lives there. He leaves her, and she is saved by those seven men who attacked the prince—dwarves who frequently masquerade as bandits that rob the queen's caravans. While the queen schemes to win over the prince (including trying to slip him a love potion that will make him want to marry her) Snow moves in with the dwarves, learns stealth and swordfighting, convinces the dwarves to give their spoils to the poor, and and enlists their help in an attempt to take back her throne, and, if she can manage it, the prince.

What Works?The key performances are all first rate, with the actors fearlessly embracing their classic-type roles. Roberts is wicked fun (pun intended) as the evil queen, Collins (daughter of singer Phil Collins) is truly winning as the sweetheart-turned-adventurer Snow White, and Lane and Hammer compete furiously for the honor of best comedic performance—Lane’s a wry cut-up and Hammer is a fearless hoot, making the most of a subplot where a wrongly-concocted love potion addles his brains. Hammer and Collins also have a prolonged half-serious/half-flirtatious swordfight that harkens back to a similar scene in The Mask of Zorro, what with romantic sparks flying even as metal clashes and punches are thrown. And the dwarves (who, thankfully, are given names and types that are at least more interesting than Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, etc…) bring an irreverence to their group bickering that recalls Shrek at its wittiest—they have actual discernible personalities, too. And there's a late celebrity cameo that almost had me cheering.

I already referenced one of the films this movie brought to mind (Shrek); others that come to mind include Tangled and Enchanted. Realizing (rightly) that today’s audiences are going to be easily bored by something that’s either too-low-I.Q.-kiddie in its content and humor, or overly-treacly in its romantic material (a la Twilight), it opts for a mix of endearing earnestness and adventurous razzle-dazzle, and it works perfectly. The banter is amusing, the feelings are believable, the adventure is exciting, and more than one late curveball is thrown just to throw off people like me, who “know exactly where this is going”. The more serious subjects (the townspeople’s desperate living conditions, the queen’s evil schemes) hit home, but, of course, in a good old-fashioned Disney adventure like this, good will prevail (sorry if you expected otherwise and I just spoiled the movie for you).

Ultimately, the pace is quick, the laughs are plentiful, and the performances colorful.

What Doesn’t Work?A few of the sillier touches, such as the queen’s turning Lane into a cockroach and some pre-Final Credits titles that tell how each of the dwarves went on to fare (in very wink-wink fashion), are a little unnecessary and pointless, but most of Mirror Mirror is surprisingly first-rate entertainment. Not one scene really drags.

Content:It’s a PG-rated Disney film. As with Shrek, and some other recent animated films that strive to be Whole Family-Friendly in order to make a louder bang at the box office, some of the humor is a little naughty, but most of it won’t register with kids younger than 13 anyway (and one of the running gags is actually pretty hysterical). There are a few scary moments in the woods (as in the classic cartoon Snow White), and some scary effects, but this is ultimately an inoffensive, family-friendly picture.

Bottom Line (I Promise):Funny, feisty, and full of life, Mirror Mirror is an entertainment that will delight the kid in all of us, and sets the bar high for best Snow White adaptation of the year (bring it on, Snow White and the Huntsman).

Mirror Mirror. Directed by Tarsem Singh. Based on a Story by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Written for the Screen by Melissa Wallack and Jason Keller. Length: 106 minutes. Rated PG