When people think of Disney movies, they tend to think of the animated films. When I think of Disney movies, I'm just as likely to think of their tradition of light comedic "family films," which all have this aggressively peppy, enthusiastic attitude, extremely simple characters, lots of broad slapstick humor, a heavy reliance on platitudes and sloganeering, and usually a very obvious message.
"Mirror Mirror" is one of these films, and the message is your typical modern girl power rally, mixed into the traditional princess narrative of finding and landing a Prince Charming. The modern Snow White should not only be refined and beautiful and sweet, but a defender of the oppressed, on the path to becoming a benevolent ruler. Additionally, she should be able to hold her own in a sword fight with her prince, and rescue him too if she has to. How is she to accomplish this? "Believe!" the film declares, and then throws all matter of visual distractions at us before we can ask about specifics.
"Mirror Mirror" is really all about the visual distractions. The main selling point of the film is not Julia Roberts, headlining as the Evil Queen, and it's not Armie Hammer and Lily Collins, who are playing our young heroes. It's the Indian director Tarsem, who is known for his elaborately ornate visuals in films like "The Cell," "The Fall," and "Immortals." With no small amount of help from the late costume designer Eiko Ishioka, he creates a fairy-tale kingdom of striking shapes and lush colors. The Queen's golden throne and court gown dominate the whole the room. The dwarves disguise themselves as giants, using stilts that resemble accordion bellows. The Queen's secret hideaway on the other side of her magic mirror resembles a sinister bird, an echo of the brighter peacock images she is associated with throughout the film. Unlike other fantasy films, the screen is never overly busy or cluttered, with plenty of space to appreciate the effect of individual parts of the art design and costume pieces.
I wish Tarsem's talents had been put to use for better material, but "Mirror Mirror" is a very slight film, probably best enjoyed by small children and tired adults who aren't really paying attention to the dialogue, but will appreciate the parade of pretty colors. Roberts narrates the story as The Queen, who married Snow White's widowed father, The King, and took over the kingdom after he disappeared many years ago. She's in the process of running it into the ground when the story starts, having taxed the people to the brink of starvation. An opportunity appears in the form of Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer), who lands on her doorstep after being accosted by the seven dwarves, bandit thieves who live in the nearby woods. The Queen resolves to marry him for his money, organizing an elaborate ball that requires squeezing the people for even more funds. Meanwhile, Snow White (Lily Collins) has just turned eighteen, and after sneaking out of the castle discovers just how dire the situation is. She resolves to take back her kingdom and defeat The Queen.
If you're wondering where the huntsman is, there isn't one. We just have Nathan Lane playing Brighton, the Queen's chief toady, who gets the job of taking Snow White out into the woods at one point to kill her, but predictably bungles the job. He's really only there for comic relief, in a film that frequently goes off on comic digressions that aren't as funny as they should be. There are the Queen's icky beauty treatments, the prince falling victim to a botched love potion, and most of the business with the seven dwarves, who remain very minor characters in this version. If you've seen the trailers, rest assured that the worst of their punning, including the infamous "Snow way!" line, has been left on the cutting room floor. What remains is best described as agreeably high energy, but only mildly amusing.
In spite of the weak dialogue, I did enjoy the performances. Lily Collins has become a much more solid screen presence since I last saw her in "Priest," and Armie Hammer actually has some pretty good comic timing. I look forward to seeing him again in "Lone Ranger" next year. Julia Roberts gets most of the fun stuff, sniping about common fairy tale conventions, grumbling about her fading looks and Brighton's incompetence, and generally acting more like an impossible, spoiled prima donna than a truly evil harridan. I think the film could have used more of her, but then I'm also glad they didn't overuse her either. A little of Roberts goes a long way, and in spite of what all the marketing would have you believe, this isn't really her movie.
"Mirror Mirror" is a piece of fluff in the end, inoffensive and harmless. It aims so low that you can't say it doesn't meet expectations, but at the same time it's a little depressing that such a gorgeous film with such talented actors really amounts to so little. There are one or two inventive little twists that show the film did have the potential to do something more daring and interesting. Instead they just stuffed the Snow White story into the new Disney formula, which isn't much of an improvement over the old one.
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