Mirror, Mirror

Told from the vantage point of the Evil Queen (Julia Roberts), director Tarsem Singh's campy revisionist take on the Snow White fairy tale serves up subversively flamboyant eye-candy, even if the fantastical farce falls flat. Growing up as a veritable prisoner inside the castle after her father, the King, disappears into the forest, naïve 18-year-old Snow White (Lily Collins) has no idea how cruel the Queen is nor how the people are suffering until she musters the courage one day to venture out and explore a nearby village. Appalled and horrified at the poverty engendered by her vain, self-absorbed stepmother, Snow tries to enlist the aid of handsome, wealthy Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer). Consumed with jealousy, the Queen orders her servant (Nathan Lane) to execute Snow while she secretly slips a love potion into Prince Alcott's goblet. Abandoned in the forest, Snow is adopted by seven rowdy dwarves and, eventually, develops enough confidence and swordplay skill to battle the Queen, claim her birthright, and free the enslaved Prince. Credited to three disparate screenwriters who incoherently riff on the Brothers Grimm, Mirror, Mirror is primarily propelled by the opulent and occasionally grotesque visuals and little else, with self-mocking Roberts savoring her role as a treacherous villain. Not surprisingly, the dwarves are scene-stealing bandits, but since Disney owns the names Sleepy, Doc, Happy, etc., they are here dubbed Butcher, Wolf, Chuckles, etc. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Looking Through the Mirror” making-of featurette (13 min.), a “Prince and Puppies” segment (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an “I Believe I Can Dance” segment with choreographer Paul Becker (11 min.), deleted scenes (7 min.), a digital storybook, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)