Rachel Zegler shines in so-so ‘Snow White’ remake

At this point in the Disney live-action remake cycle, the only way to grade “Snow White” would be on a curve. “That’s not fair!” says “Pinocchio,” “Dumbo,” “The Lion King,” and “The Little Mermaid.” To them, my response is simple: Be better (or release later). Their faults have become “Snow White’s” blessing, a bar lowered so that even something with as many conceptual flaws as this can pass for good enough.

Now, it’s not all doom and gloom, nor does this remake of the famed 1937 Walt Disney animated film (itself a much cheerier adaptation of the fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm) get by purely on the benefit of comparison. First and foremost, Rachel Zegler is simply wonderful as the titular princess. I’d call it a star-making performance if she hadn’t already proved those bonafides with turns in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird & Snakes.” Instead, I’ll just call it a case of perfect casting.

Zegler fills her role with grace and composure, endlessly likable and charming. Her character’s disposition is natural goodness, a lesson taught by her royal parents. But tragedy struck the young Snow White in the form of her mother dying from illness and her father disappearing after he led some of his troops to fight in some unspecified war off-screen. This power vacuum allowed the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) to take command of the kingdom, forcing Snow White into servitude and taking away all sense of hope and optimism amongst the citizens.

Look, you don’t need me to rehash this plot. Screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson doesn’t make many changes to the original’s story and structure. Her main goal was likely to remold some of the creakier elements with modern sensibilities, such as making the original Prince into Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), a somewhat wisecracking Robin Hood-type whose initial cold heart is melted by Snow White’s kindness.

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Burnap’s casting is less than ideal, with the Tony winner always looking exactly like his real age of 34 despite all the strenuous work done by the hair and makeup department. There’s never any predatory or creepy intonation between him and Zegler; it’s just that seeing them side-by-side raises a slight eyebrow when I should be immediately swooning.

Not changing from the original film is the fact that the seven dwarfs are animated … although I prefer the original style to whatever this is. It’s not the same uncanny valley from the recent “The Lion King” films, as that had the detriment of being compared to real-life animals. But there’s still some creepiness permeating from them in each frame, and I can confirm that one child had to leave the screening in fear during the dwarfs’ initial introduction (the causation can’t be confirmed, but the evidence is pretty strong). It’s no surprise that they’ve been heavily reduced in the marketing campaign and that no 3D prints were made.

Something that is two-dimensional is Gadot’s performance. We all know she’s not a gifted thespian, with her turn here never clearly defining itself as strained or campy. I’m leaning toward the former, although her evil musical number makes a strong enough case for this to be seen as an elaborate wink for the parents.

Director Marc Webb doesn’t stage many of the setpieces well, overcutting and giving more attention to the fake sets rather than the performances. Luckily, the music by musical superstars Benj Pasek and Justin Paul is catchy and empowering, so I could at least just close my eyes and still be entertained.

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Kids will definitely not wear out this VHS tape (I guess the term for this in this day and age would be “overload the Disney+ server”) as they did with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Internet trolls will also be disappointed to find out this isn’t an unmitigated disaster. Avoiding a catastrophe probably wasn’t Disney’s strategy when they put down so much cash for this, but that’s about the best we’re going to get.

Disney will release “Snow White” in theaters nationwide on March 21.

Eden Prairie resident Hunter Friesen is a film critic who owns and operates The Cinema Dispatch, a website where he writes reviews, essays, and more. He currently serves as the president of the Minnesota Film Critics Association and travels the globe covering film festivals both big and small. To view his entire body of work, you can visit his website and Instagram.