Mirror Mirror

As if you had to be told, Mirror Mirror is a new take on the Snow White fable. It features a brand new fresh face in Lily Collins as Snow, but all the attention is on Julia Roberts as the evil queen. Snow's father, the King, disappears while in the woods one day, and she is forced to grow up imprisoned in the castle due to her stepmother's decree. She's pretty much raised by a cook in the kitchen, who tells her that she's the rightful heir to the crown, that she should buck-up with confidence, and venture out into the outlying town to see how the townspeople are doing. While out there, she meets a prince (Armie Hammer) who has seen better days: he's hanging upside down sans most of his clothing, as he was waylaid by seven dwarves. Most of these moments are played for jokes. Some are pretty funny while most miss their mark. In fact, when we meet the Queen (Roberts), she's making quip after quip, but there's no one there to appreciate her wit, except perhaps her right-hand man, Brighton (Nathan Lane), and even he daren't laugh. There are some new things to see here, and it's all visually a treat. However, the whole telling is very ponderous, and somehow the movie seems much too long. The problem, it seems, is that there's not much there there, so we're treated to quips by the Queen, over and over, which gets wearisome. Roberts is quite believable as an aging, wicked queen. Collins is something to watch as Snow. And our seven little people are quite entertaining, each of them with his own personality and gift. Hammer is a jewel, handsome but a little dumb and witless, but earnest. And Lane is quite funny, as only Nathan Lane can be. I sense that young children would like Mirror Mirror. However, we adults were glancing constantly at our watches. Thumb'

s down.