Disney's live-action Snow White lands divisive Rotten Tomatoes score from first reviews, as critics call it everything from "deeply frustrating" to "enchanting"

The first reviews are in for Disney‘s new live-action Snow White movie, and the critical reaction is a thoroughly mixed bag.

The film currently has a lukewarm Rotten Tomatoes score of 47% based on 99 reviews. This means it fares slightly worse than Disney’s last live-action outing, 2024’s Mufasa, which has a score of 57%. Directed by The Amazing Spider-Man’s Marc Webb, West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler plays the titular princess, while Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot is the Evil Queen.

“This is a spirited and sweet spin on classic material that deserves kudos for its balance of necessary updates and affection for the old ways,” writes IndieWire‘s reviewer, while The Latino Slant says, “Snow White is a magical, enchanting, and vibrant live-action Disney adaptation.”

Others weren’t so taken with Snow White, though. “Some parts of the film work better than others, but none of it has the sweetness and imagination of the animated feature,” reads RogerEbert.com‘s review, while Rolling Stone notes that “this Snow White may not be the worst live-action adaptation of an animated touchstone, though it’s a strong contender for its blandest.”

“With Snow White, they’ve finessed their formula — do the bare minimum to make a film, then simply slap a bunch of cutesy CGI animals all over it and hope no one notices,” writes the Independent.

Meanwhile, other reviews call the movie “deeply frustrating,” “more bland than brave,” and “neither good enough to be a classic or bad enough to be a guilty pleasure.”

However, Zegler’s lead performance is attracting its fair share of praise. “Thanks to sunny songstress Rachel Zegler, there is a talented throughline still obvious amidst the mess,” says AV Club and, despite The Hollywood Reporter‘s qualms with the film, the publication writes that “the incandescent Zegler sells it with conviction and heart.”

Snow White arrives on the big screen on March 21. For more on this year’s upcoming movies, check out our guide to the other biggest movie release dates in 2025.

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