‘Snow White’ review: Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot fail to lift listless Disney remake

Dir: Marc Webb. US. 2025. 109mins 

In Disney’s latest live-action reimagining of one of its animated classics, the liberated Snow White is no longer waiting for her prince to come — but, unfortunately, the changes and additions detract from the original far more than they enhance. Snow White stars Rachel Zegler as the titular princess trying to rescue her kingdom from The Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), but director Marc Webb’s listless remake smothers the magic associated with 1937’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Viewers will hear some of that film’s charming songs, but they may struggle to remember what once made them sing.

A cynical reproduction suffused with deadening CGI

Opening worldwide from March 19, the remake has faced controversies, including star Zegler’s criticism of the original’s relatively passive protagonist and online debates regarding  the iconic dwarfs, not to mention politics, which have detracted from the rollout of a film that should be a hit with family audiences. Whether or not that affects Snow White’s grosses remains to be seen, but negative reviews could be the strongest deterrent to its commercial prospects.

Young princess Snow White (Zegler) has lived a life of sorrow. Her mother, the noble queen, died tragically when she was just a girl, and her father has remarried, beguiled by a mysterious outsider (Gadot). Once the king departs to defend a remote section of his kingdom, Snow White’s stepmother reveals her true nature, imprisoning Snow White and seizing power. Fearful that Snow White might one day replace her as ’the fairest of them all’, The Evil Queen orders the princess killed – but instead Snow White escapes into the enchanted forest, where she meets The Seven Dwarfs. (Although, in  a nod to modern sensitivity around the proper terminology for little people, this new Snow White never refers to the diminutive group as such.)

Doc (voiced by Jeremy Swij), Bashful (Tituss Burgess),  Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman) and friends are rendered through a combination of puppetry and performance-capture, but the crucial element missing is the sweetness seen in abundance in the 1937 animation, still among Disney’s most cherished films. This lack of sparkle can be felt throughout the remake which, like so many of the studio’s recent redos, feels stiff and reverential — a cynical reproduction suffused with deadening CGI.

Webb, who directed the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man pictures, shows little aptitude for Snow White’s brand of lighthearted musical-comedy, despite the fact that his 2009 feature debut 500 Days Of Summer featured an enjoyable musical number. Based on a Brothers Grimm story, Snow White resides in a fantastical world populated by talking mirrors and powerful spells, but Webb’s film feels disappointingly earthbound, the enchanted forest too often looking like a gussied-up soundstage. (Kave Quinn’s perfunctory production design fails to evoke a sense of fairytale timeliness.) 

Notably, ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’, one of the 1937 film’s best-known tunes, is not included, a nod to Snow White’s newly-minted refusal to be defined by a man. But other classic songs from Frank Churchill and Larry Morey — namely, ‘Heigh-Ho’ and ‘Whistle While You Work’ — do make an appearance, although the new arrangements tend to turn the tracks into brassy showtunes that overpower rather than captivate. Webb intersperses those well-known musical highlights with new songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the composing team responsible for La La Land and The Greatest Showman. Some of these tracks, including the spirited Snow White anthem ‘Waiting On A Wish’, boast bright melodies, but their slick, disposable contemporary nature clashes with the venerable Churchill/Morey songs, resulting in a frustrating sonic mismash.

Zegler found acclaim as the star of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and she deploys her beautiful, textured singing voice here again. Her Snow White is an empowered feminist who happily goes toe-to-toe with Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), a cocky bandit who becomes her love interest. True, there are no bland, dashing princes to be found in this Snow White, but Burnap is stuck playing a bland, dashing rogue, undercutting the chemistry between the actors. 

As for Gadot, the former Wonder Woman seems to relish portraying someone so wicked. (Heralded costume designer Sandy Powell recreates some of the 1937 picture’s best looks expertly, dressing Gadot in impeccable black gowns and the spikiest crown imaginable.) But Erin Cressida Wilson’s drab screenplay never delivers the witty quips or icy menace that would make this Evil Queen a fearsome foe; yet another example of the film’s wasted potential.