Mirror Mirror is a film I somehow missed seeing while it was in theaters. I remember wanting to see it, but I got too busy or something. So, here I am, nearly a year later, and I’ve finally seen it. I should have made a better effort to watch it sooner.

The film follows the original story to a degree: the King (played by Sean Bean) and his Queen have a baby (Snow White, played by Lily Collins), but the queen dies in childbirth. The King marries the beautiful Clementianna (Julia Roberts) and they raise Snow together until the King disappears when Snow is eight. The main story starts ten years after the King disappeared.

The Queen has squandered most of the kingdom’s treasury on parties and a lavish lifestyle, so she raises taxes in order to rebuild the treasury. The queen also invites a neighboring prince to a ball so she can court him and marry him, thereby gaining access to his kingdom’s funds. The prince (Armie Hammer) gets waylaid in the forest by thieves and Snow encounters him when she sneaks out of the castle. The prince and Snow meet again at the ball and become enamored of each other, so the Queen orders her manservant to take Snow to the forest and kill her. Of course, he doesn’t, and the rest you’ll have to see the film to find out.

The set and costume designs in the film are excellent (the costume designs got an Oscar nomination). The use of colors in the costumes makes the characters pop off the screen without making them seem out of place as the sets are well designed and fit each scene perfectly. The dwarves are not the Disney dwarves, and they each have their own personalities and quirks which add to the fun of the film.

The main reason for a less-than-perfect rating is because parts of the film didn’t flow well (I blame it on the editor(s)). There’s not one specific scene I can point to, but it had the feeling of improv in parts (especially with the dwarves) which didn’t always “click”. This is really a minor niggly bit, though, and I still really enjoyed the film.

One of my favorite parts of the film was the celebration musical number at the end, I Believe in Love, which is done in a definite Bollywood style, and Collins shows her talent singing the song. The music fit the film very well, as expected from Alan Menken, best known for his work on many Disney animated features.

So, now that I’ve repented and watched this film, I encourage anyone else who hasn’t yet seen it to correct that as well. Mirror Mirror is very enjoyable and generally family friendly. I’ve now added it to my collection!

Release Date: March 30, 2012 (USA)
MPAA Rating: PG

MySF Rating: Four point zero stars
Family Friendliness: 80%

Content:

Alcohol/Drugs: 1 (minor use of alcohol)
Language: 1 (one instance of deity, other non-expletive)
Nudity: 0
Sexuality: 2 (some mild innuendo, the prince often appears shirtless)
Violence: 3 (some mild fantasy and slapstick violence)

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