Mirror Mirror is a new take on the classic Snow White story. Snow White’s mother dies in childbirth, and so her father, the King, is left to raise her on his own. Eventually he remarries, but soon after mysteriously disappears. We cut to ten years later, where the Kingdom has fallen on hard times. A Prince is traveling down the road and is mugged by the dwarves. He manages to make his way to the castle, half-naked. The Queen decides that she will marry him in order to solve her money issues. However, the Prince seems to have eyes for Snow. So The Queen plots to have her killed.
The film tries to re-tell this classic story with a modern edge—but the only modern aspect is the dialogue. The setting is more typical for the period, and the costumes often look like something out of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The dwarves in this film are nothing like the Disney ones we’ve come to know. These seven are a band of thieves who are reminiscent of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys. Each has his own hat/costume—a cowboy, Napoleon, a bum, a pirate, etc. They also seem to have trained with Cirque Du Soleil, because when they attack travelers, they wear masks and capes, walk on accordion-style stilts and do all kinds of acrobatic flips and tricks.
When I saw this was another Tarsem Singh directed film, I knew I was going to be seeing wacky costumes and elaborate headpieces—and sure enough there were plenty. Add to that the overly-campy performance by Julia Roberts as The Queen, and it was hard to take this film seriously. This was one of the major issues I had with the film–it wasn’t funny enough to be a comedy and it wasn’t serious enough to be an action/drama. It was just boring and kind of annoying.
The performances by the other actors weren’t that bad. Lily Collins as Snow White and Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott were much better and far less campy. And Nathan Lane played the typical Nathan Lane family movie role of a weak nervous guy.
Overall, this might work as a kid’s movie. Kids might appreicate the campiness and the crazy costumes. However, if I want to see a prince/princess comedy, I’ll just watch The Princess Bride for the umteenth time, or if I wanted to see a live action Snow White, I’ll watch Once Upon a Time.
What’s Included:
Film (1:45:52):
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Blu-ray:
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- English SDH, Spanish subtitles
- Audio: English 5.1 DD
- English SDH, Spanish subtitles
- Digital Copy for iTunes/Android
DVD/Digital Copy:
Extras (Blu-ray Only):
- Deleted Scenes (6:55)
A collection of five deleted scenes, including an alternate opening. There is a Play All option, or each can be viewed on its own. - Looking Through The Mirror (12:58)
Behind the scenes featurette with the cast and crew talking about what it was like working with director Tarsem Singh. They also discuss the production design, art direction, costumes and visual effects. - I Believe I Can Dance (11:01)
Paul Becker, the film’s choreographer, teaches viewers the moves from the film’s big closing Bollywood number, “I Believe”. - Mirror Mirror Storybook
Animated and scored storybook version of the movie that allows the viewer to step through page-by-page via an on-screen book, and read the story. - Prince and Puppies (1:59)
Featurette with some puppies commenting on Armie Hammer’s role as the Prince. - Theatrical Trailer (2:07)
- Sneak Peek
Trailers for Ice Age: Continental Drift, Cowgirls N’ Angels, Fox Family Moments, Mirror Mirror Soundtrack
Final Thoughts:
The picture was very good and clear. The special effects and green screen work was well done as it was not evident where effects were being used. The sound was also good, but I didn’t really get a lot from the surround channels.
The amount of bonus features was kind of disappointing, and like I said in my review of The Immortals, if everyone thinks that Tarsem Singh is such a visionary director, I would like to actually hear from the man himself in an audio commentary track!
Overall, I found the film kind of dull and most of the jokes fell flat for me–especially Julia Roberts’ over-the-top performance. That said, I suspect that younger audiences would probably love watching her campy performance. Definitely rent it before doing a blind buy.
