Review No.104: Mirror Mirror

I remember in 1998 when two studios were releasing 'asteroid' movies at the same time one was Armageddon and did tremendously well while the other was Deep Impact which hasn't really stood the test of time. Two movies coming out around the same time with similar subject matter isn't a rare occurrence most recently I remember the live action Peter Pan and Finding Neverland being released fairly close to each other while this year the big theme is Snow White with two films focusing on the fairy tale heroine the first being Mirror Mirror. The film fancies itself as an irreverent comedy on the story casting Julia Robert's Queen as the star attraction while Lily (daughter of Phil) Collins makes little impression. The film starts very similar to the story with The Queen banishing Snow White to her room before eventually ordering her death but this time at the hands of her effeminate dogsbody Brighton, played brilliantly by Nathan Lane, who lets her go due to his close bond with her late father. The Queen is then after another husband in the form of Arnie Hammer's Prince Charming who is portrayed as a charming if slightly dim-witted sort and she tries to ensnare him through magic she gains from the mirror. However mirror Julia Roberts warns evil Julia Roberts about the excessive use of magic but she ignores this in favour of getting hitched in order to bring more money into her kingdom. Snow White is captured by the dwarves, who in this version of the story are robbers, who later take her in after she charms them and teaches them to be more civilised. Obviously at the end of the story there is a happier ever after but before that director Tarsem Singh has to get in a few fights, some obvious jokes and that all important kiss to satisfy the tween girl audience.

As a fan of Singh's first major feature The Fall I looked forward to his re-telling of this fairy tale as that film was a fantasy film that still had its route in traditional story-telling. From watching Mirror Mirror you can certainly see similar visuals from the palace scenes to the snow covered forest everything looks fantastic which goes double for Eiko Ishioka's luxurious costume design. The problem I had with the film is that it seems to aspire to be a comedic spoof on the fairy tales you can tell that in the way the opening monologue resembles the start of Shrek or how the joust between Snow White and Prince Alcott bares similarities to the relationship of Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride. For me it fell short of emulating either of those films instead it felt more like I was watching an average British pantomime as the jokes were of that standard as was the very bland performance from Lily Collins who has seemingly been cast for her looks and nothing more. Roberts, Hammer and Lane are all great in their own way but don't seem to gel together to the extent where I felt that they'd taped their scenes separately with the results blended together to give the effect that they were in the same room together even though they weren't. I felt it should've been darker and there were moments where Singh drifted things in the right direction, most of which were located in the film's final fifteen minutes, however I felt that he'd be influenced too much by the studio who were obviously looking to appeal to a younger crowd. Overall I have to say this film left me cold despite occasional flourishes the finished product wasn't impressive at all.

Verdict: While there is some visual flair and some game performances Mirror Mirror generally left me feeling fairly flat so for that reason I'm going to give it 5/10