Snow White (Lily Collins) is turning eighteen. The Queen (Julia Roberts), known for her lavish parties, is hosting another one—but not to celebrate Snow White. She uses her galas to politically game-play with the Kingdom’s higher-ups, and Snow White, as usual, isn’t invited. She’s a prisoner in her own castle, forbidden to leave the grounds or attend the Queen’s parties.

The Evil Queen discovers that she’s depleted the royal coffers, wasting the kingdom’s money on fancy dresses, expensive beauty treatments, and over-the-top celebrations. Coincidentally, a shirtless Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer) arrives at her castle after being robbed by “giant…well…minuscule bandits.” The Queen sees an opportunity that will solve her financial problems—she organizes a ball that will sweep the handsome, rich Prince off his feet to in front of the altar.

A fecal facial, bee-sting Botox, and a wormy moisturizer treatment later, the Queen is ready for the ball. She’s shocked to find she’s not the fairest in the room—the Prince is dancing with Snow White. The furious Queen orders her servant Brighton (Nathan Lane) to take Snow into the woods to kill her.

Upon Snow White’s escape, she meets the equivalent of the seven dwarfs: Butcher, Napoleon, Grub, Chuckles, Grimm, Half Pint, and Wolf are bandits with accordion stilts to make them look like giants when they rob people. Each of these dwarfs has his own unique personality, and a few are downright hilarious. Together, Snow White and the dwarfs fight to take back her kingdom from the Evil Queen.

As Snow White, Lily Collins (The Blind Side) plays the role of a quiet and graceful, timid Princess-turned-leader very well. Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich), was at her best, amusing in her sarcasm-filled “evil” role. Armie Hammer (The Social Network) was funny and consistently charming throughout the movie as the Prince.

The movie’s strength lies in the scenery. The scenes and sets are absolutely stunning, and at a few points the film is shot as if inside a snow globe. The costumes, designed by the late Eiko Ishioka, are delicious, vibrantly colored and fairy-tale-esque.

Mirror, Mirror is directed by Tarsem Singh, taking a turn from his last foray, Immortals. Overall, the movie is a light-hearted and not very deep diversion. With elements of slapstick comedy, adventure, and a little romance, audiences will laugh and leave the theaters feeling enchanted. Rounding out the little over hour and a half tale, a Bollywood dance number ends the movie on a high note.

Mirror, Mirror has a few moral lessons (and what great fairy tale doesn’t). You shouldn’t steal, looks can be deceiving, magic is harmful, and there is more to life than the way you look. One scene toward the end of the movie might be a little scary for the under five crowd, but overall Mirror, Mirror is a very clean and family-friendly movie.

 

To learn more about author April Kruger, visit Cross Shadow Productions

In Mirror, Mirror the Queen is obsessed with looking her best, going through particularly painful (and gross) measures to maintain her beauty. It not only costs her a great deal, but everybody around her as well. Unfortunately, this isn’t far off from the lengths that many people go through today to keep themselves looking young. Magazines emblazoned with Photoshopped models, acai berry diets, and P90X bombard people at every turn, showing that no matter where people are, they can always be more beautiful. Some people’s grim response? At the extreme, starvation and surgery, all to lengthen the time living up to the impossible definition that the world has for the word “beautiful.” The Bible addresses this mindset In 1 Peter 3:3-5. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” Beauty is an inner quality—for there are a fair share of outwardly beautiful people who are, like Snow White’s apple, rotten to the core. God’s interested in the inside. He’s crazy about the core. He believes in what’s beneath, not the adornment of your attire. In Samuel 16:7, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." This isn’t saying that it’s wrong to style your hair, wear jewelry, or nice clothes—but it’s saying that those things aren’t the definition of your worth. God wants us to spend our efforts not in front of the mirror (mirror) but on our knees in front of him, building our heart’s beauty rather than our external beauty. Here are some questions to think about: How would you define beauty? How are you beautiful? List some beautiful, inner qualities. What qualities do you think are important to God, and what can you do this week to work on those qualities?