Snow White

Anything Miranda Richardson graces has to be a hit and this is no exception. She plays the Evil Queen with a delightful wickedness and the special effects of the magic mirror have to be seen to be believed!

There's a lovely new twist on the 7 dwarves with each one being a day of the week and a part of a rainbow, and newcomer Kristen Kruek is wonderful as Snow White.

This is probably very un-American of me to say, but I never liked Disney's "Snow White", mainly because Snow White herself is such a twittering bimbo! There, I said it. On with the review:

I was very surprised at how good this version of "Snow White" was. The genie was cool, if a little creepy, and the acting is great. The highlight has to be the dwarves. Their names are days of the week and they travel by rainbow. One of them is even a girl! Faces to look for in the dwarf cast: veteran fantasy film star Warwick Davis ("Willow", "The 10th Kingdom"), as Saturday, Michael J. Anderson ("Twin Peaks") as the sweet leader dwarf Sunday, and Vincent Schiavelli (Uncle Enyos on season 2 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") as the negative Wednesday. The latter is an odd choice: he's not a dwarf at all! Oh, well.

Sadly, the biggest drawback is none other than Snow White herself. Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville") is unforgivably bland as Snow White. She's a stunning beauty, but little else. To break it down, Snow White's gone from having no brain to having no personality.

Still, "Snow White: The Fairest of Them All", is a treat for Hallmark movie fans. Catch it when it comes on video.

Hallmark Entertainment's seemingly remorseless quest to film every fairy tale ever made meant that they'd eventually get to the Grimm brothers' tale of Snow White and the seven dwarves - except that as told by adapters Caroline Thompson and Julie Hickson only six of them are dwarves, as part of their development of the classic tale. Unfortunately, you know what they say about the road to hell and good intentions.

"Snow White" also works in a few elements of "The Snow Queen" - the shards of Queen Elspeth's mirror flying into people's eyes and causing them to not see her evil for what it is - but also adds some interesting twists to the yarn; her psychosis is for once given some basis (the Queen's insecurity over the hideousness that is her true self is the ultimate cause for her going over the edge when her mirror informs that it is her stepdaughter, not she herself, who is the fairest of them all), and the septet - the days of the week in... um... corporeal form - are also a bit more defined than the norm. Lovely British Columbia scenery and a fine score by Michael Convertino also help; the problem with "Snow White" is, however, Snow White herself.

Other characters here get fleshed out, but Snow White remains a bit too passive for comfort - it's less the fault of Kristin Kreuk's performance than the basic script and character, but there's only so much you can do with a symbol instead of a person. Miranda Richardson has much more scope as the wicked stepmother, and is clearly enjoying herself (although you do wonder why nobody notices the woman is obviously a few sandwiches short of a picnic), but a few less wisecracks would have helped - "It looks like I finally left you breathless!" she cackles post-poisoned apple delivery.

A lot more wonder would also have helped; "Snow White" is sadly short of magic, and doesn't really take as much advantage of its story as it could (except for the sadly truncated attack of the garden gnomes... not as daft as it sounds, trust me). This is particularly sad considering Caroline Thompson did such a good job on "Black Beauty" and as the scripter of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Edward Scissorhands." It is, however, always good to watch Vincent Schiavelli and Michael J. Anderson (the dwarf from "Twin Peaks") - but fairytale completists, Richardson fans and guys in love with the brunette from "Smallville" will get more from this ultimately dull tale than I did.

the best thing - a version who escapes from the ordinary expectations. the special effects. and Miranda Richardson who has the perfect science to give to her role force and seduction. a real surprise - Kristin Kreuk as a real different Snow White. her performance is a real surprise because she gives new nuances to a role who seems be easy victim of clichés. a film who use in smart way the humor and the grace of story, the darkness and the seduction. and who reminds the original emotion when you discovers the fairy tale for the first time. this is all.

Those reliable guys at Hallmark Entertainment are behind this cheapjack adaptation of the classic fairytale, filled with cheesy special effects and familiar faces. It's often an example of so-bad-it's-good entertainment, with plenty of overacting and bizarre situations to take your mind off the shortcomings of the script and set-up.

Certainly compared to the recent likes of SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, SNOW WHITE: THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL is a cheap version of the tale. Rubbery masks are used for some of the characters, and the CGI effects that do occur are, well, rather cheesy. The acting is hardly of a high standard either: as Snow White, Kristin Kreuk (the world's first part-Chinese Snow White?) is pretty but wooden, while Miranda Richardson can't resist but to ham it up terribly as the evil Queen.

Still, there are better actors in support, and these include Clancy Brown who looks fantastic underneath some truly 'Grimm' make-up. Warwick Davis unsurprisingly appears as one of the dwarfs, and there's a nice comedic turn from the underutilised Vincent Schiavelli. Watch out for Vera Farmiga in an early turn.