Snow White Movie Review (2025)

Sometimes you have to fix a movie for yourself. I renamed this Jonathan And His Merry Bandits. Once you recast him as the main character, Snow White isn’t all that bad.

I love musicals. I was introduced to them from a very young age and I make it a point to see all kinds of shows throughout each year as an adult. I enjoy the structure, I appreciate the creativity involved, and the music has the potential to lift my spirits each and every time I see one. But this film is the first time I’ve truly understood why someone wouldn’t watch a musical.

Snow White is the classic Disney story that was first released in 1937 with a few added twists. The kingdom is not very wealthy and Snow and her parents have always made a point of giving to and celebrating with the townspeople. When her mother dies, an evil woman seduces her father, has him killed, and Snow is made a servant within the castle. The evil queen, who is obsessed with beauty, orders her to be killed, she escapes and is released because of her goodness, moves in with some dwarves, and ultimately takes back her kingdom with the help of her friends.

This film was truly eh. A few things to get out of the way – Snow White is a thankless role with no depth, as is the evil queen. They were built that way from the beginning. Snow White = Good and Evil Queen = Bad There’s not a lot that you can do with that and Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot did what they could.

I have never in my life thought, “Please don’t start singing” until watching this film. There are a few songs that are moderately enjoyable, but most feel unnecessary, as does most of the movie remake. Gal Gadot’s main ditty seemed to lean towards Ursula’s, “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” but without the charm (and animation), so it just felt odd.

The CGI effects of the dwarves was something I could never get past. I tried, I really did. The animals were fine, the random lights and effects worked, but the dwarves felt so strange that I couldn’t help but to feel as if they were separate from the film I was watching. Which is a shame because it became distracting. That said, there are a few visuals that I was impressed by (a red cape in a sea of dull outfits and the forest scarily moving in on Snow).

BUT, here is what I really want to talk about. There is no prince in this version of Snow White, but there is a bandit named Jonathan. When you first meet him, you feel the energy shift. There is finally real life on the screen and he is what I clung to.

Andrew Burnap’s Jonathan is a cross between Frozen’s Kristoff and Wicked’s Fiyero. He is charming and incredibly natural with a real likability. By the middle of the film, I decided that this was his story. And reframing it for myself that way made the movie much more enjoyable. While Snow sang, I wondered what my buddy Jonathan was up to. While the dwarves cleaned, I hoped we would see him again soon. It definitely helped.

All in all, this film felt mostly lifeless and unnecessary. But if you decide that Jonathan is the main character and send some well wishes to Snow on her little adventure, you’re going to enjoy it much more.

Runtime: 109 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: PG

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Not unless you have to because children insist

Did I Cry? Hard no

My Rating: 1.75/5 Stars

Available: Free on Disney+, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms on