In Snow White, Rachel Zegler proves she’s a star, Gal Gadot won’t win over any of her critics, and Disney delivers a satisfyingly straightforward kid’s movie packed with enjoyable songs and silly dwarves. Thankfully, it’s no rotten apple. 

While slight in depth and by no means bold in its filmmaking, watch Snow White for what it is—children, and especially young girls—and you’ll walk away as happy as the kind-hearted attempted murder victim/title character. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the animated original, but this Snow White feels like a properly modernized update. Clocking in at a reasonable 103 minutes, the additions and changes serve to help the story rather than bloat it (looking at you, The Little Mermaid). Online controversies about the seven dwarves aside, the CGI little dudes are funny and kid-friendly.

The music is also a highlight, with Snow White boasting several strong (if not quite ascendant) songs. Zegler can sing her beautiful face off,  and other cast members deliver some great numbers as well. 

Further, Zegler is a great actress. Despite the sappy, G-rated material, she goes all in on the role and helps elevate everything around her. Yes, she may not have “skin as white as snow” but she both looks and embodies the part.

The rest of the cast is less impressive, but are adequate for the small stakes at play here. Andrew Burnap is fine as the romantic lead Jonathan, though his character seems better written for a Disney Channel show. Gal Gadot tries hard to play the Evil Queen, but her performance feels more desperate than anything else, a failed attempt to convince people that she is more than her looks.

While I appreciate the short runtime, some parts feel rushed or edited beyond benefit. And the addition of Jonathan’s band of thieves (who may or may not have been the original cast of dwarves before significant changes were made) is awkward at best; they linger at the edge of scenes, barely speaking or contributing to the story. The climax too falls a tad short in terms of excitement, though again, for a children’s movie, the message-driven resolution offers up some good lessons (my six-year-old, however, declared in the theater that Snow White “should take the knife and stab the Evil Queen in the heart!”).

Snow White may not be groundbreaking cinema, but it has the components to win–not stab–the hearts of children. This is one live-action Disney remake that is worth taking a bite out of. 

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.