Disney’s latest live-action remake, “Snow White,” attempts to reimagine the 1937 animated classic, albeit with some major plot and musical changes. The story’s core plot remains the same: a young princess, envied by her stepmother, the Evil Queen, is forced into hiding, where she befriends seven dwarfs and ultimately finds true love after a harrowing escape from death. However, this version makes significant alterations, which include a new love interest, changing Snow White’s motivations and adding modernized musical numbers. Some of these updates feel like logical adjustments for a contemporary audience, while others clash with the timelessness of the original. 

Plotwise, “Snow White” leans heavily into modern themes, often to the film’s detriment. Some changes do make sense, such as allowing Snow White (Rachel Zegler) and her love interest, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), to actually fall in love before she bites the poison apple, making the “true love’s kiss” moment feel all the more powerful. 

However, other scenes feel forced. Instead of a prince, Jonathan is now a bandit, which shifts the tone of the film in a mediocre, unnecessary way. While attempting to give Snow White more autonomy is an admirable goal, the movie handles it in a way that makes some of her decisions more frustrating than empowering. For example, when the dwarfs and others try to protect her from danger, she often goes against their wishes, only to end up in danger anyway. This conflict of communication undermines the sense of empowerment the film is trying to convey. The shift, along with the expanded focus on Jonathan’s character, also leads to the seven dwarfs having far less screen time. Their role in the story is so reduced that we can tell why Disney dropped them from the title entirely: the movie is not really about them anymore. 

The film’s saving grace is Rachel Zegler, who delivers a genuinely captivating performance as Snow White. Her voice is stunning, and her ability to infuse emotion into her singing makes the new song “Waiting On A Wish” a strong addition to the film’s soundtrack. The song follows the classic Disney ‘I Want’ song format, and Zegler’s performance makes it feel natural. “A Hand Meets A Hand,” the duet between Snow White and Jonathan, is another great addition to the soundtrack, bringing warmth and chemistry to their relationship. Despite the odd decision to make Jonathan a bandit, the romance is one of the more engaging parts of the film. The chemistry between Burnap and Zegler is palpable. 

However, not all of the new music is as successful; “Princess Problems” is downright cringeworthy, with lyrics and a tone that feel very modern and jarringly out of place in a story that is centuries old. Instead of capturing the timelessness of “Snow White,” it dates the film as being distinctly from the 2020s, making it feel like a product of the time rather than a classic. 

Unfortunately, Gal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen is as underwhelming as expected. Her singing is simply not strong enough to carry the Queen’s musical number, “All Is Fair,” which was already poorly written. The costume design is another letdown, with her outfits often appearing cheap and overly theatrical rather than regal and menacing. For a story that places such importance on diamonds and wealth, the film’s depiction of the Queen’s jewels is laughable, looking more like the plastic gemstones you would find in a craft store than riches that are propping up a kingdom. 

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of “Snow White” is its heavy-handed anti-capitalist messaging, especially when the film is produced by Disney, one of the most capitalist movie studios. The Evil Queen, while undoubtedly villainous, is framed as being evil largely because she runs an exploitative, capitalist kingdom. Before the attempted murder of her stepdaughter, her worst offenses seem to be making people pay for their food and enforcing a working economy. On the other hand, Snow White’s big revolutionary stance is essentially advocating for everyone to share everything. Even in the climax, as she turns the Queen’s guards against her, her vision of the kingdom’s past prosperity is focused on unviable business models, like the baker just giving away his bread for free. The whole message feels more like clumsy communist propaganda which is especially jarring considering Disney’s status as a mega-corporation and that their films more often include a more coherent moral standpoint. 

And yet, despite all of these flaws, “Snow White” does accomplish one thing: it makes kids happy. While it may have been frustrating for me to sit through, I could not ignore the fact that I was surrounded by young girls and boys who were completely enamored by Rachel Zegler and swept away in the story unfolding before their eyes. They fully bought into the magic Disney is trying to create. At the end of the day, is that not the whole point? If the film is for children and the children love it, then perhaps it did its job.