Poison apple

Other than the best-looking and trippiest enchanted forests I’ve seen in a live-action film, “Snow White and the Huntsman” has little to offer.

The autopilot plot hits all the fairy tale’s required beats, while offering no convincing emotional grounding for the characters.

The stars have trouble adding nuance to a script that has none.

Kristen Stewart suffers worst of all, failing to overcome her woefully underwritten lead role. Even a good blockbuster actor would have trouble delivering an epic speech after not speaking for most of the movie. It’s not a good sign that I can’t remember a single line of Snow White’s dialogue in a movie about her.

In a performance that’s at least memorable, Charlize Theron takes the evil queen Ravenna to camp levels of excessive anger.

Chris Hemsworth, as the drunken huntsman, is the only actor who manages to inject some charm into a role, but he still fails to justify the character’s inclusion in the title.

He and Kristen Stewart share what are supposed to be pivotal moments but are drowned out by the needless action and magical elements that are ditched in the film’s climax. This Snow White is teased to be some pagan Neo but ends up saving the day in what might be the most mundane battle of the year.

The single notable story element was the curious and welcome lack of romance between the leads, which sets it apart from almost every other fairytale adaptation. I hate to say it, but that might have at least added some chemistry into the flat film.

As was the case in the year’s first Snow White offering, “Mirror Mirror,” the visuals and dwarves are the standouts of the picture, but “Mirror Mirror” moved more easily from setpiece to setpiece.

“Snow White and the Huntsman” meanders, and its two visionary forests can’t justify the by-the-numbers plot and dismal script.

By Patrick Beane