Gal Godot Receives Harsh Reviews for ‘Snow White’, a Career Low

A pop-culture anniversary is usually a time for celebration, whether it’s conventional or obscure, genuine or ironic. However, the recent resurgence of Gal Gadot’s star-studded “Imagine” Instagram post came at an inopportune moment, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the COVID lockdowns that initially inspired it. This unfortunate timing has brought a wave of negative criticism towards Gadot for her performance (and singing!) in Disney’s Snow White remake. While Rachel Zegler faced criticism before the movie’s release, she ultimately won over audiences. On the other hand, Gadot’s performance has not been well-received, contributing to a downward trend in her career that seems to both confirm and challenge her status as a star.

Gal Gadot has always had a larger-than-life presence, and not just because of her tall stature. Her filmography primarily consists of big-budget studio films; she made her debut in a Fast & Furious sequel and has since portrayed superheroes, spies, or villains. When she was cast as Diana Prince in the early days of the DC Extended Universe, she found a role that truly suited her, delivering a standout performance in the 2017 film Wonder Woman that injected warmth, romance, and genuine strength into the DC movie universe at a crucial time. (The first Wonder Woman remains the highest-grossing film of that DC era in North America.)

Similar to how Christopher Reeve embodied Superman, Gadot and Wonder Woman had a rare and almost magical connection between the character and the performer. Gadot may not have a wide range as an actress, but her innate vibe fits perfectly with the essence of Wonder Woman, who exudes strength, compassion, integrity, and in the first film, a hint of innocence. While some may consider this assessment patronizing, it’s a role where traditional acting prowess may not always have the same impact (or interest in portraying a demigoddess).

What happened after Wonder Woman was not entirely Gadot’s fault. She joined up with Dwanye Johnson and Ryan Reynolds to do some starry throwback-caper shtick in Red Notice; the movie doesn’t really work, but it’s not a bad idea of what to do with anyone involved. (The trick is, you have to do it well.) She tried to start her own Netflix franchise with the spy picture Heart of Stone; she offered enough memes to fill the Nile in Death on the Nile. And she reprised Diana in Wonder Woman 1984, before the DCEU franchise imploded and took a planned third movie with it. WW84 itself felt like a pandemic casualty, premiered in half-closed theaters during Christmas 2020 as it premiered on HBO Max, ripe for snark-watching. If anything, the sequel is even squishier and more emotive, more evocative of the old Superman movies, than its predecessor; I have a soft spot for it, not least because it’s one of the only contexts where Gadot’s glamorousness feels vulnerable.

In theaters during normal times, WW84 probably would have done $250 million domestic just for existing; during the pandemic, it felt more like a companion to that “Imagine” video. Truly, is the “Imagine” video the root of all Gadot’s ill? I mean, not all; her vocally unwavering support of her home country of Israel will never sit well with some people, understandably. But that video has it all: cluelessly privileged calls for unity in times of disaster that a wealthy actress/model is well-equipped to weather better than most; a lack of any firm reason for being, much like an expensive Netflix lark; and off-key warbling, which figures into a surprising number of her performances.

In that sense, Snow White celebrates that “Imagine” anniversary with a whole passel of Gadot-isms: She overacts without ever seeming especially scary or even human, she repeatedly telegraphs her evil by shtickily arching a single eyebrow, she speak-sings without much conviction, and she generally plays the Queen as a poor man’s version of what Charlize Theron was doing with the same role back in 2012. Some early word on the performance hinted that it might be an all-time train wreck; no such luck, really. She’s just overdoing it in kind of an amateurish but predictable way.

By default, Snow White will almost certainly represent Gadot’s biggest box office hit since her DCEU days, while also assuring that she comes out of it looking worse. It seems like this DC reboot could materially harm both her and Jason Momoa, another actor of limited range who tapped into a real movie-star charm in a superhero role (and had a sequel that was not as good but still sort of underrated). Their DC work has a light-stepping bigness that perfectly balances that universe’s godlike grandeur and inherent silliness – a fine counterpoint to the idea that superhero movies can’t make stars. The problem, really, is that they can just as easily unmake them, stripping them of power when they’re forced to return to the surly bonds of earth. It’s common to call Gadot wooden, and I’d agree with that to the extent that a tree is wooden: Impressive, tall, beautiful, but not exactly easy to pivot. Gadot will doubtless try; she seems to be on board for a Fast & Furious finale resurrection, and no one achieves her level of fame without fighting to hang on to it. But she may have to imagine a smaller world in order to do it.

Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts at www.sportsalcohol.com, too.