Snow White is a popular girl this year, but the two movies based on her classic Brothers Grimm tale are about as opposite as Snow White and her evil stepmother. While Mirror Mirror put a comical spin on this timeless tale just a couple of months ago, Snow White and the Huntsman is a decidedly darker take more akin to the earlier folk tales on which the Grimm version was based. And whether you’re accustomed to the animated Disney version of Snow White that has permeated pop culture or the distantly dark fantasies that portray Snow White herself as a monstrous vampire-like creature, this latest version of the story is unlike any previous versions, though it borrows heavily from each of them.

In Snow White and the Huntsman, Snow White (Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart) is raised in captivity after the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron, playing a cold-blooded witch not unlike the character you’ll see her portray in Prometheus next Friday) deceives the king into marrying her only to murder him and usurp his throne. Though birds and other animals don’t sing to Snow White or tie ribbons in her hair, she does have a magical connection with nature that allows, for example, birds to help her escape (she’s later able to summon a mystical multi-horned horse-like creature, which solidifies her status as the good witch to Revenna’s bad witch).

After Snow White escapes, an enraged Revenna promises a widowed huntsman (Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth, who would have been better off if he had just brought his hammer) she’ll bring his wite back to life if he’ll hunt down Snow White and bring her back to the queen. But Snow White’s magic seems to affect even this drunken lout and he soon finds himself helping her escape from the queen. Meanwhile, the queen’s mirror, which had previously reassured her she was the fairest one of all, goes all Dorian Gray on her by informing her that someone fairer has recently come of age. Unable to continue hiding her true age, she sends her vaguely incestuous albino brother (Sam Spruell) to find Snow White and the huntsman who is now helping her.

The huntsman and the princess encounter various people (and other creatures) along the way and it seems the everyone aside from Snow White herself realizes that she is the key to overthrowing the queen’s dark reign and restoring life and happiness to the kingdom. They eventually come across eight dwarves (is it any coincidence that the one who gets the Star Trek redshirt treatment happens to be the one with red hair?) who are, for some reason, played by regular-sized people like Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins and Eddie Marsan. Though there is no “Heigh-Ho,” it is off to work they soon go as Snow White comes to the conclusion that she must overthrow the queen and take back the kingdom that is rightfully hers. But the queen certainly isn’t going to make that easy, even in her ever-weakening state.

And so much for the damsel in distress we’ve come to expect from Snow White as she gears up with the rest of the troops, looking more like Joan of Arc than Sleeping Beauty riding into battle clad in armor and wielding weapons. But just because this Snow White’s a bit of a badass doesn’t mean she doesn’t still succumb to a poisonous apple and need a prince charming (of sorts) to awaken her with a kiss.

Though this version of Snow White isn’t as familiar as the version most people are accustomed to, it retains all the fantasy elements in interesting and unique ways that are closer to what those Grimm guys had in mind than what Disney has taught us. And perhaps the most “happily ever after” thing about Snow White and the Huntsman is that the female characters (be they good or evil) are portrayed with convincing strength without weakening any of the male characters in the story.

Snow White and the Huntsman. Directed by Rupert Sanders. Starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Sam Spruell. Rated PG-13. www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com.