Snow White & The Huntsman

In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.

Traditional orchestral sounds reverberate through this soundtrack, making it worth your time

Rupert Sanders, on his first feature, managed to land James Newton Howard, one of the best in the fantasy genre. Even when the films around him disappoint—Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender—Howard pours emotion and weight into the music. Snow White & the Huntsman is no different, though it doesn’t quite hit the same highs.

Howard leans into his usual fantasy toolkit here: sweeping orchestra, strong cello and piano solos, harp and chimes for texture, and a dark, mixed choir. The cello is especially poignant, representing both tragic beauty and Ravenna’s twisted allure. Where the score stumbles is in the more experimental passages—metallic grinding effects, harsh dissonance, and sound design elements that feel more distracting than integrated. These moments break the flow and clash with the score’s more lyrical material.

The themes are clear but not deeply interwoven. Ravenna gets a menacing four-note progression that pounds away in low brass and strings, always reminding us of her obsession with eternal beauty. Snow White’s theme, by contrast, is noble and hopeful, first played quietly on horn before swelling into full orchestral grandeur by the finale. It’s well-developed, emotionally wide-ranging, and the real heart of the score. The softer interludes—like “Sanctuary”—are gorgeous and carry echoes of Howard’s best work in Lady in the Water. But they’re too few and far between, leaving much of the score to fall back on generic blockbuster action writing.

That’s the real frustration here. You can hear flashes of greatness, especially in Snow White’s theme and some of the more delicate passages, but the whole doesn’t come together like Howard’s best efforts. At times, it even slips into Zimmer-esque action tropes that feel out of place. The choir, usually a Howard strength, is also under-mixed and underused, which dulls its impact.

By the end, the score is solid—technically precise, thematically clear, and atmospheric—but it’s not transcendent. Unlike Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender, or The Village, it doesn’t have that one unforgettable moment of beauty that elevates everything around it. Snow White & the Huntsman works, but it doesn’t soar. Howard’s fans will still find plenty to enjoy, but for me, it’s a score that plays it safe and leaves too much potential on the table.