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First Look: Charlize Theron gets nasty in ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ teaser

by: Uproxx authors

Snow White doesn’t say a word in the brand new, action-packed teaser for Universal’s “Snow White and the Huntsman.” Nor does she need to. After all, actions speak louder than words. 

The clip’s relentless pace and emphasis on action and effects make the film (one of two upcoming studio takes on the well-known fairy tale) look more like “Lord of the Rings” than “The Twilight Saga” (despite the presence of Kristen Stewart in the title role). In fact, the battle-ready Stewart doesn’t even appear until roughly halfway through the video. The teaser, if not the film, belongs to Charlize Theron, playing the evil witch extremely evil, stealing souls and stabbing men left and right. She can’t stand the thought of Snow White threatening her iron-fisrted reign, so she dispatches the Huntsman (“Thor’s” Chris Hemsworth) to murder the ingenue. Good luck — he’ll fall under Snow’s spell soon enough.

While the film’s romance will likely come to the forefront of future promotional materials, the teaser happily indulges in creepy visuals (so many crows!), relatively brutal battle scenes and some ace CG effects — that Ent-like tree monster is especially good. It’s all appears to be in the name of making it all seem more grown-up and “real,” although some of it seems a little too eager to recall the epic fantasy of “LOTR,” with the heroine destined to save the realm and a fellowship on a long journey through lush forests and spectacular foothills. 

Directed by ace commercial helmer Rupert Sanders, “Huntsman” also stars a slew of formidable Brit thesps as the Dwarfs: Bob Hoskins, Eddie Izzard, Ian McShane, Toby Jones, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Stephen Graham and Ray Winstone.

 

“Mirror Mirror,” Relativity’s competing Snow White tale starring Lily Collins, Armie Hammer and Julia Roberts, is opening three months earlier, but no trailer has yet surfaced (in fact, they only decided on a title a few days ago). “Mirror,” directed by Tarsem Singh (“Immortals”) is being positioned as a lighter, more family-friendly film. 

 

“Snow White and the Huntsman” opens nationwide June 1, 2012. Watch the teaser here:

 

What do you think of the trailer? Let us know by grading it at the top of the story.