I saw it so you don’t have to. Let’s get started with this Snow White movie review.
This movie didn’t so much release as it escaped, clawing its way out of the vault like something locked up for good reason. Whatever Disney thought they were doing with this one, it’s safe to say the magic mirror’s cracked beyond repair.
Rachel Zegler singing in the Snow White Trailer – YouTube, Disney
Let’s rip off the band-aid: Rachel Zegler is a terrible Snow White. Full stop. She can carry a tune, sure—if you’re looking for a Broadway belter who has never once understood the assignment. Snow White is supposed to be soft, sweet, an ingenue with a soprano voice so delicate it makes birds sing along. Instead, we get Zegler’s full diva persona, bellowing every note like she’s headlining Chicago. It’s all flash, no nuance. Her entire presence screams LOOK AT ME, which is the exact opposite of the infectiously kind, demure princess audiences loved back in 1937.
Honestly, if they’d cast her as Elphaba in Wicked, she probably would’ve been better than the equally vapid but less vocally talented Cynthia Erivo. But here? Completely miscast. Also, I think you all need to give me some credit for managing to hit at both Rachel Zegler and Cynthia Erivio in this Snow White movie review.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
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And the music—good grief, the music. Disney somehow commissioned a batch of new songs that feel like rejected B-sides from a knockoff karaoke machine. They’re bland, tuneless, and heavily autotuned, particularly when it comes to “the prince.” Oh, did I say prince? My mistake. He’s not actually a prince at all. In their infinite wisdom, Disney decided to make him a bandit, because heaven forbid anything traditional remain untouched. Unfortunately, the writers forgot to give him an actual personality, so he spends the film with the charisma of wet cardboard. No backstory, no charm—he exists solely to show up as a delivery system for true love’s kiss like some enchanted Amazon package.
And let’s talk about Snow White’s character arc. Or rather, the lack of one. They keep chanting “fearless, fair, brave, and true” like it’s supposed to mean something, but there’s no moment where she earns or grows into those qualities. She’s perfect from the start, remains perfect throughout, and ends perfect. The only difference between Snow White in the first act and Snow White in the third act is her outfit.
This is yet another tired Disney Girlboss narrative where the heroine doesn’t actually need to learn anything. She’s already flawless, and everyone else just needs to realize it. Classic Bob Iger Disney.
Rachel Zegler singing the original song “Waiting on a Wish” from Disney’s Snow White live action remake – YouTube, Disney
Zegler’s performance doesn’t help matters. Every line feels like she’s forcing it, grinning through clenched teeth. You can practically hear her thinking, “Be sweet, be likable, be nice,” and failing at every step. It’s so painfully fake, you’ll be reminded of every disingenuous “nice girl” who’s ever stabbed someone in the back while smiling. It’s clear that playing a character who is kind for the sake of kindness is such a far cry from who she is that it’s an outrageous acting reach for her.
Now, let’s wade into the song choices. The original classics like Someday My Prince Will Come? Gone. I’m Wishing/One Song? Also gone. Instead, Disney dumps in their new garbage, treating the beloved originals like clutter to be swept under the rug.
Heigh-Ho is the only bright spot, and even that’s dragged down by the horror-show CGI dwarves (we’ll get to them).
Whistle While You Work? What a joke. Zegler’s Snow White prances around, singing about teamwork, while the dwarves do all the cleaning. It’s like watching Tom Sawyer con the neighborhood kids into painting the fence, except instead of charming, it’s cringey and malicious. Zegler’s version of Snow White doesn’t feel like a leader or a friend—she feels like a bossy coworker who disappears when the real work starts. I honestly am aghast every time I see a Snow White movie review that praises her for anything.
Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved
I had hoped Gal Gadot might salvage something here. I liked her in Wonder Woman, so maybe, I thought, she’d be the one bright spot. Nope. Her Evil Queen is so over-the-top, so comically hammy, it makes Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face in Batman Forever look subtle. Gadot chews the scenery like she’s in a high school play, and not in a fun way.
She even gets her own original song—and it’s as awful as you’d expect. Gadot can’t sing, the lyrics are a disaster, and the whole sequence made me miss her much-mocked Imagine video during the global health crisis in 2020. Yes, that was more tolerable than hearing her try to croon her way through this trainwreck.
The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney Productions
And the Evil Queen transformation scene? The original gave us one of the most iconic villain moments in Disney history with lines like “A blast of wind to fan my hate. A thunderbolt to mix it well.” It’s terrifying. It’s memorable. Here? It’s reduced to a lame reprise of Gadot’s earlier song, drained of all menace and mystery. The hag disguise, once a chilling plot twist, is tossed in like an afterthought, with no payoff. The entire poison apple subplot feels like it’s only in there because it’s Snow White so they have to have the apple.
The movie’s writing is a textbook case of telling instead of showing. The Queen’s evil? We’re told about it. Snow White’s kindness? We’re told about it. The King’s goodness? Yep, we’re told about it. Snow’s grief over her mother’s passing? Narrator monologue incoming. Every emotion, every plot point, spelled out like a grade school play, while the screen is cluttered from start to finish with cute CGI animals designed to distract toddlers.
Dopey in the Live Action Snow White movie – YouTube, Disney
Now, about those dwarves. Remember those leaked set photos with the seven dirty hippies standing in for the dwarfs? Well, they’re still here. It’s painfully obvious this movie was cobbled together from two separate productions. The horrendous CGI dwarves—the stuff of nightmares—appear randomly, shoved into scenes at the last minute after Disney panicked over backlash.
Snow White meets the dwarves, ditches them, then teams up with the hippies, then finds the dwarves again. It’s jarring, clumsy, and borderline offensive.
A leaked photo from the set of Snow White showing the dwarfs as diverse actors of various sizes – YouTube, The Critical Drinker
The whole movie feels like Disney had one idea, reshot half of it, then glued the pieces together with glitter and hoped no one noticed. And if you believe the rumors, that’s exactly what happened.
Final Verdict: 2/10.
And that’s me being generous!
One point for Heigh-Ho not making me want to claw my ears off, one point because the runtime stays mercifully under two hours. Otherwise? This film is an unmitigated mess. Get your fill of Rachel Zegler now—because after this, her chances of leading another major blockbuster are slim to none.
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