The Snow Queen
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Movie Reviews of The Snow Queen
Movie Review: Good Family Move
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good family move. One of the TV stations in our area split it into a 2 day move. Our DVR did not get the 2nd part. We just had to get our hand on this move to see how it ended.Movie Review: DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a MUST movie to add to your holiday library!! Beautiful, uplifting and will be viewed over and over each year. Needs to be on every shelf as a holiday viewing experience.Movie Review: Great Story, Great Graphics, Really Bad Acting
Summary: 4 Stars
If you love fantasy movies, you have to watch this, but be prepared for some bad acting...the plot is great and so are the sets.Movie Review: Loved it
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie....ever since the first time I saw it on Hallmark Channel I knew I had to have it...Movie Review: Slow but moderately enjoyable
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this DVD because I enjoy the Hallmark productions of various fantasy tales, not because I was familiar with the original Hans Christian Anderson story. Therefore, I'm not equipped to judge it based on it's adherence to the original story but only as a bit of television entertainment.
The basic story is about how the Snow Queen wants to dominate all the seasons so that it is winter year-round. Part of what we see in the movie is how she attempts to do this and how the heroine attempts to stop her. The way in which the story unfolds in regards to this plot is where a lot of the entertainment value lies so I won't spoil it.
The main problem lies in the pacing of the story. The first hour, which is largely dedicated to establishing the characters and relationships between them, moves far too slowly. While I believe time dedicated to character development can be of great value, some of the scenes are unnecessary or unnecessarily long (such as the ice skating scene where pro skater doubles perform twirls and other manuevers real skaters would never bother with). The odd thing is that I believe the extra time spent showing us how the hero and heroine fall in love actually undermines the credibility of the passion they supposedly feel for each other rather than enhances it. The languid pace shows a slow build of affection rather than a rapid burn which might incite the heroine to face great danger on her love's behalf.
Unlike other reviewers who believed Bridget Fonda's portrayal of the snow queen didn't explain the hero's attraction to her, I simply concluded it wasn't her beauty or her behavior that drew him to her but simply magic. Nonetheless, I think that there should have been a clearer explanation of the "mechanics" behind what she was doing, particularly when she behaved so cruelly at times and still was able to hold those around her in her thrall. Perhaps such an explanation wouldn't have been necessary if she had been portrayed in a more sensual manner. However, I think that these family-oriented presentations seek to avoid too much sexually-driven content.
There are some beautiful scenes and the story has a satisfying ending but it seems disjointed at times and I could easily see some viewers growing bored waiting for the story to move along. The overall "feel" of the movie was also disrupted (for me personally) by the relatively modern music that was used at times. All in all, I think that the father and son producers (the Halmis), who have made a lot of these types of productions for Hallmark, dropped the ball on this one. They had a lot of good pieces but put them together wrong.