This grim special-effects juggernaut mucks around in the darker regions of the fairy tale. The dominant presence is Charlize Theron's evil stepmother, a man-hater who offs the king and imprisons his daughter. Once grown, Snow White (Kristen Stewart) escapes to the Dark Forest. Hers is not the old clichéd path towards romance, but the new clichéd path towards becoming a kickass girl warrior. Her huntsman mentor (Chris Hemsworth) is a more movie-bound archetype, the dissipated rogue ready for redemption. Stewart succeeds in conveying Snow White's compassion (her Inner Beauty) without mushiness. Director Rupert Sanders revels in all that can melt, ooze, disintegrate, or swoop together (the queen's cloak is made of ravens). The dwarves, played by top-notch British actors whose heads are affixed to small bodies, are an oasis of personality. Too bad Snow White blows past them en route to her swashbuckling finale.
