Last evening the other DrC and I saw the film Mirror, Mirror in a local theater. In a word, it is fun. Not serious, not especially well-acted, beautifully costumed, beautifully filmed, and fun. When it ends you wish it would go on longer so you could follow what happens to the young princess.
In a Snow White film the audience is supposed to fall in love with the title character. In this version it takes a while to happen. Lily Collins doesn't do this part quite as naturally as Anne Hathaway did in several films, but she eventually wins your heart. Maybe that's the point, maybe we're supposed to see a bland goody-two-shoes evolve into a heroine with both head and heart.
The evil queen played by Julia Roberts has been modernized, which is fun to watch. She makes the queen more believable by making her less over-the-top evil than some of her predecessors. The goings-on at her court make you expect to see Johnny Depp pop up in Mad Hatter garb (he doesn't).
This set of dwarves for sure isn't the Disney set; these are a pack of thieves and highwaymen, scruffy little outcasts from society. I like the difference. The prince, played by Armie Hammer, was not one of the strongest performances. He's pleasant looking but vanilla bland. Sean Bean's part as the king is so small you wonder why they brought him aboard; they could have gotten by with someone less well-known (and cheaper).
