The movie is often nice to look at, but the dialogue and delivery are so bad, and at key times even so laughable, that the movie would have been better if it just muted the actors and just let us watch the pretty pictures.
Snow White suffers from its obvious attempt to be Lord of the Rings-y. There's a dark phantom army that turns to lumps of coal when they're stabbed, dwarves (which are the best part of the movie), and a rousing speech before the final battle. But Kristen Stewart is no Viggo Mortenson, and Snow White is no Aragorn. "Fight like thundering waves," from Bella Swann just doesn't carry the same gusto as, "There my be a day when the strength of men fails, but it is not this day."
As a director, Rupert Sanders, who's mostly done commercial work, has the good sense to pick good cinematographers and very skilled technicians, but direction to his actors couldn't have been more than, "Scream this part really loud." You'll grow to hate all that screaming by the end of the movie. Scratch that, by halfway through the movie.
And why does The Huntsman of the title fall for Snow White? That's a mystery, as is at what point in the movie he developed any feelings for her. Somehow he does. Perhaps in the movie's world love is a state of no emotion or connection.
I could complain more about the movie, but I can't do so without spoiling things for anyone who still might want to see it, so I won't. Instead I'll end positively. When the dwarves show up, I got hopeful for a minute, hoping that the movie was about to take a turn for the better. It only lasted a few minutes, but for that few minutes as you recognize the guy from Deadwood, Hot Fuzz, and Sherlock Holmes in fantastic make-up and looking completely integrated with normal-sized folks (the one thing that this movie actually does better than LOTR) it's pretty cool.
If you must go see this movie, bring ear plugs and just enjoy the scenery.
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