Snow White and the Huntsman

For the second time this year, we get a revision of the Brothers Grimm tale of the conflict between Snow White (Kristen Stewart, dull and lifeless as ever) and her wicked stepmother (Charlize Theron, snarling up a storm). Where Mirror Mirror was sweetly tongue-in-cheek, this one has delusions of Shakespeare; Theron seems to be auditioning for Regan in a production of King Lear (she’d probably be pretty good, too). With Stewart as the heroine, the movie is inevitably soft in the center, so it falls to others to hold our interest—Theron, Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman, Sam Claflin as a childhood friend. The seven dwarfs are created by digitally “shrinking” such pros as Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins and Toby Jones; their presence is a boost, too, though the movie is too dark and doomy to be really any fun.