Mirror Mirror is not a great movie, by any means. But it is a delightfully fun movie. I will go ahead and say that I liked this better than Snow White and the Huntsman, since everyone always wants to compare them. Really, I just want to yank The Huntsman out of that, toss him in here, and we'd have a perfect movie. Well, except that The Huntsman would be a bit disconcerted by how happy and bright everything is here.
But anyway, this post is supposed to be about Snow White (Lily Collins). Her mother died, and her dad, The King (Sean Bean), didn't want her to grow up without a mother, so he married The Queen (Julia Roberts). She promptly did away with him and took over, shoving Snow into the corner for the next several years while she throws lavish parties and wears dresses made from enough fabric to clothe all seven dwarves.
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| Holy giant skirt, Batman! |
The Queen also has magical powers of some sort that allow her to visit a magical underworld, where her mirror-dwelling doppelganger gives her potions and stuff to solve her problems. Except her monetary problems -- The Queen has bankrupted the government and is now sending the entire country's economy into a tailspin.
Enter Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer). He's rich, he's cute, he's young, he's charming -- The Queen must have him. Except he's much more interested in Snow White. That's no problem for The Queen, of course -- just send Snow White to the woods to be killed, give Prince Alcott a love potion, and all will be well.
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| Armie Hammer wears period costumes so well, doesn't he? |
So, yeah, your standard Snow White story, told with tongue firmly in cheek and one eye winking at the audience. It has random references to modern life (my favorite being when Prince Alcott tells The Queen he needs a moment "to process" what's going on), and all the actors are clearly there solely because they are having so much doggone fun. And so I have fun watching them have fun. It's all good!
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| Snow White and the seven completely wonderful dwarves. |
I'll be getting a copy of this for my very own, as I think that before my kids are old enough for the cheeky fun of Jack the Giant Slayer, they will enjoy the sweeter, gentler fun of this movie.
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| I really want to make her costume here for myself. |
Is it family friendly? Mostly. There are some low-cut dresses, some kissing, Armie Hammer spends a lot of time shirtless, several characters are seen only in their old-fashioned and very modest underwear, and there are a bunch of delightful sword fights. There's also a very creepy attack by wooden marionettes, and a dragon-wolf monster. Too scary for small kids, fine for teens and most tweens, I'd say. No bad language except for a couple instances of OMG.
Same reaction I had, with being surprised how much fun it was. And yes, the actors look like they are all just having a blast making this movie!
ReplyDeleteI was telling Laura not too long ago that I had a movie to show her that we wouldn't have to wait for M to be asleep to watch. He will be bored with the Queen and the romance stuff, but will love the dwarves, sword fights, and all the action. He definitely cannot watch Jack any time soon, but this one is perfect for where he's at in his movie viewing. I wonder if he will recognize Armie from the Lone Ranger clips?
Love that top pic of the movie poster. And I so love the costumes in this film. Well, not that big orange bow, but even that kind of works with all the crazy colors of the movie. :-D
Oh, I can't wait to hear what M thinks of it!
DeleteBig bows are a bad idea, IMHO, no matter the color.
You're so right, this movie is fun because it was obviously fun to make! It's not a great movie, but you can't help being pleasantly amused watching it. I think Armie Hammer is what I enjoyed most about this, he's a much better prince than Sam Claflin was in SWatH. (They're the same story and came out within months of each other, so of course we have to compare them!) And yes, he does wear those period costumes very well. Even the one with the ginormous frilly sleeves. ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, Armie has an innate charm and likeability that Claflin lacked.
DeleteOhhhhh, the frilly sleeves! I'm giggling aloud just remembering him ripping the ridiculously large cuffs off.
You know, I strangely enjoyed this as well. I totally put it on Netflix a few months ago and actually liked it. I was expecting it to be entirely stupid, but with some cool costumes.
ReplyDeleteThe most hilarious part for me was Sean Bean dying at the beginning and coming back to life at the end! GOOD FOR HIM, FINALLY. ;-D
Yes! The Walking Spoiler gets resurrected! It's awesome -- I suspect they cast him just for that very reason, because it would be soooooooooooo funny.
DeleteI think I'd read a total of one blog review that said this was fun and not dumb. Everyone else kept calling it names and throwing little pebbles at it. Turns out they're the dumb ones!
It has random references to modern life (my favorite being when Prince Alcott tells The Queen he needs a moment "to process" what's going on),
ReplyDeleteIs that delivered with a wink somehow? It reads like just an anachronism.
Oh, it's definitely deliberate. The characters constantly say random things that are very modern. Makes it whimsical and unexpectedly funny, usually during what should be serious moments. A little like the rock music in A Knight's Tale, only verbal and funnier.
DeleteThought it was just so much funnier than it actually was, and it didn't work a bit. Except for maybe Armie Hammer, who worked his ass off to make this comedy work in the slightest bit. Good review.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I know most people disagree with me on this movie, but oh well.
DeleteI was so surprised at how much I loved this movie! Lily Collins is absolutely adorable as Snow White and she and Armie Hammer had a really nice chemistry. And the movie in general is just so charming and fun. And it had a great cameo at the end! I wouldn't say 'Mirror Mirror' is a great movie either - it is a bit too cheesy and silly at times - but it's still a very enjoyable one.
ReplyDeleteI know! It's just fun and not pretending to be Great Art or anything. And ohhh, that cameo! That's what convinced me to watch it in the first place!
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