Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman both came out in 2012 — and both of them are leagues better than the 2025 Snow White.
Disney’s live-action Snow White movie has nothing on the 2012 live-action Snow White films. Yes, that’s films plural, because in 2012 there was not one, but two different adaptations of the fairy tale. Tarsem Singh’s audacious Mirror Mirror and Rupert Sanders’ indulgent, tropey Snow White and the Huntsman both came out in 2012. They’re wildly different takes on the fairy tale, one a comedic fantasy and the other a dark action movie, and have visually distinct aesthetics. Both received mixed reviews in their time, but compared to Disney’s disastrous new Snow White movie, they’re both phenomenal.
Mirror Mirror director Tarsem is best known for The Fall (and also that Iconique™ Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Pink, and Enrique Iglesias). Like The Fall, Mirror Mirror is decadently gorgeous, with some of the most stunning costumes out there. Nothing exemplifies this more than the big costume ball sequence, where the guests all don ostentatious animal-inspired gowns and suits and prance around an extravagant ballroom.
Lily Collins stars as Snow White, with Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen. Roberts’ version of the character isn’t particularly evil… just petty, frivolous, and concerned with her self-image more than anything. In fact, the whole “try to kill Snow White with an apple” thing is an afterthought at the end, after she’s tried and failed to throw extravagant parties in order to woo the handsome prince (played by Armie Hammer).
There are some hilariously over-the-top situations — Prince Alcott keeps getting mugged by a band of thieves (the dwarfs) who strip him to his skivvies; the Queen undergoes a comically long and intense beauty regimen, which involves various insects and excrements slathered all over her; when Snow White dramatically locks Alcott and the dwarfs in their own house to go face the Queen on her own, they spend a stupid long time before realizing that they have their own key. There’s also a sexy banter-filled sword fight between Snow and the Prince, which doesn’t quite fit the hilarious over-the-top situation bucket but I had to highlight it because it’s just so damn fun and adds some oomph to their romance.
