The fairest of them all

And such is the case of the latest reworking of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

First up is Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts and Lily Collins (the second, Snow White and the Huntsman is due for release later this year).

Much of the core storyline of the traditional Grimm fairytale has been kept intact in Mirror Mirror.

Roberts plays Queen Clementianna, who’s taken control of the land after marrying Snow White’s father (Sean Bean) who has conveniently gone missing in the Dark Woods.

Jealous of her step-daughter Snow White (Lily Collins), when wealthy Prince Alcott (Arnie Hammer) arrives in the kingdom, Clementianna just has to keep Snow White out of the way long enough so she can do wooing and the marrying.

We get some of the more gruesome elements of the original story, like the ‘huntsman” (here Brighton, the Queen’s lackey played by the fantastic Nathan Lane), who brings back animal intestines instead of Snow White’s, to prove to the queen that he has killed her.

Under directior Tarsem Singh, it’s a fun riff on these familiar elements, with a humorous quality that will no doubt distinguish it hugely from Snow White and the Huntsman, a far more Grimm-looking adaptation.

Julia Roberts is in fine form as the wicked queen. That raucous cackle made famous by the jewellery box scene in Pretty Woman is put to excellent use as the jolly despot attempts to win over Prince Alcott, in between visits to a parallel universe, where the eponymous mirror is a magical reflection of herself.

Hammer too, as the prince, is delightfully tongue-in-cheek as the rather hapless prince.

Indeed, the only character who plays it straight is Snow White herself. Like Enchanted and The Princess Bride, the sincerity of the central role anchors the plot, while the playfulness elsewhere gently sends it up.

But who’s the best of them all? Roberts steals the show completely, making Clementianna irrepressibly charming despite all her anxieties.

A fresh and funny retelling of the Snow White legend.