Snow White surrounded by animals with sunlight radiating on her | Agents of Fandom

Movies

‘Snow White’ Review: Rachel Zegler Shines in an Otherwise Uninspired Retelling

Despite a script that falls flat, the clear highlight of the film is Rachel Zegler’s magical performance.

03/27/2025

If any film in Disney Animation’s pantheon deserved the live-action remake treatment, it was most definitely 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. While a game-changing film for both Disney and cinema as a whole, its story is simple and to the point. In both execution and promotion, 2025’s Snow White should have been a home run for Disney. These live-action remakes also produce little controversy outside of being unnecessary cash grabs (which, yes they are).

However, Snow White has seen a laundry list of controversies throughout its production, with some criticisms more warranted than others. Unfortunately, the film largely falls flat in its attempts to introduce a classic story to a new audience, even with an outstanding turn from Rachel Zegler as the titular princess.

‘Snow White’ Attempts To Fix What Isn’t Broken

Andrew Burnap, boy with brown hair, looks lovingly at Rachel Zegler, girl with short brown hair. | Agents of Fandom — Snow White trades in a prince for a Jonathan. Image Credit: Disney.

The script of Snow White, penned by Erin Cressida Wilson, tries to steer Snow White herself in a direction that feels a little too disingenuous to the character. If any character was going to see dramatic changes from their animated counterpart, it was going to be Snow White. The issue here is not that Snow White was changed. Rather, it’s that the changes attempt to rectify aspects of Snow White that didn’t need rectifying.

The 1937 Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) isn’t exactly the most well-rounded character ever written, but there’s still something about her gentle, innocent, and kind attitude that makes her such a classic character. In the live-action remake, a new group of outlaws called “The Bandits,” namely the love interest Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), spend a lot of time trying to show Snow White the bleak reality of the Evil Queen’s (Gal Gadot) reign. Jonathan tells Snow White that you can’t just bake apple pies, be kind to everyone, and expect things to go your way. However, Snow White’s charm has always been that, well, she can.

While kindness does prevail at the end of the film, making Snow White and Jonathan sing a song about how that isn’t the case does nothing for the story, especially with the film ending the way it does. The only thing it succeeds in is giving the audience a subtle wink and nudge that says “Hey, we here at Disney think this is outdated too!” It’s a moment that goes nowhere for either character and provides some in-movie context for the controversial comments Zegler made in 2023 about the source material.

Despite a Shaky Script, Rachel Zegler Excels

Snow White (Rachel Zegler) looks up at the sky | Agents of Fandom — Snow White is as wonderfully charming as ever. Image Credit: Disney.

Despite the barrage of online hate Rachel Zegler received for taking the role of Snow White, her performance and vocals more than prove the naysayers wrong. It’s rare for an actor to be so proficient at their craft that their screen presence alone makes a film worthwhile. In places where the writing fails to capture Snow White’s charm, Zegler makes up for it in almost every aspect of her performance.

There are moments in the film, particularly in the forest chase scene, where Zegler moves in a way that is very animated, but not cartoonish. The “Whistle While You Work” sequence is also a highlight. Despite singing to CGI dwarves (who are quite forgettable in this take), Zegler beams through every lyric. It’s moments like these, where the young star gets to fully tap into becoming a princess, that shine brightest; she’s truly magical in the role.

Unfortunately, Zegler’s main co-star, Gal Gadot, is anything but magical in her turn as the Evil Queen. Gadot has been unable to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was her performance in 2017’s Wonder Woman, and Snow White is no different. Every line delivery is on par with “Kal-El, no!”, a line from 2021’s Justice League that got incessantly memed for Gadot’s infamous delivery. It’s especially jarring considering how well Zegler effortlessly melds into her role.

Disney Hasn’t Figured Out Its Live-Action Formula Yet

Snow White, in a blue and yellow dress, is surrounded by the seven dwarves, all wearing different hats | Agents of Fandom — Snow White and the seven dwarves, but make them terrifying. Image Credit: Disney.

While Snow White doesn’t stick the landing in many aspects, it is nowhere near some of Disney’s worst adaptations of their animated classics. While not as egregious as Dumbo (2019) or Mulan (2020), it doesn’t quite reach the heights that films like The Little Mermaid (2023) or Cinderella (2015) do. If there’s any takeaway from Snow White and its never-ending set of controversies, it’s that Rachel Zegler is a miracle worker.