Hoodwinked!

Hoodwinked!
Dir: Cory Edwards and Todd Edwards
Starring: (voices) Anne Hathaway, Andy Dick, Glenn Close, Patrick Warburton, David Ogden Stiers

Hoodwinked tells the 'behind the scenes' story of Little Red Riding Hood. It begins with the tale as we know it (almost) then moves onto the police investgation about the crime. Each character (Red, Granny, the Woodsman, and The Wolf) tells their version of the story to help tie all the threads together and help the police catch the 'goody bandit'.

It's very original, I must say. Despite a kind of boring premise (modernising fairytales, a la Shrek) the story is not what you'd expect, and all I can say is it must have been great fun to write it. Twists include an extreme sports-loving grandma, a German (possibly Austrian) actor auditioning for a bunion cream commerical, a caffeine-induced squirrel and a furry villain with a team of European henchmen.

I can't decide whether I liked the animation or not. It's not realistic-looking, in the style of Finding Nemo or Happy Feet, but is instead very stylised, and I can't decide if that's good or not.

There are some extremely funny lines in it, and probably some more gags that you'd discover the second time around. There are also some kind of unfunny bits in it, but what can you do?

My idea of a good family film is one that appeals to kids but has bits that keep the adults amused too. This film certainly has bits to keep adults amused - kids probably wouldn't get all the jokes - and it will appeal to certain kids. however, it will not go down as a really good family film because it's too much of a spoof, and it doesn't really have... I hate to have to say this, but a heart.

The plot is not great, and it really has stretch itself to fill the running time of 1 hour, 21 minutes. I think it probably have worked better as a short film or a TV special or something. There's just not enough substance to make it a feature film.

Still, there were some geniunely funny moments, and it's a mildly entertaining way to spend an hour or so. Give it a go if you feel in the mood, but you're not missing anything special if you don't.

B

Talliestar xxx

Flippers: Why do they call you Red?
Red: Because of this red hood I wear.
Flippers: What about when you're not wearing it?
[pause]
Red: I usually wear it.

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Boingo: Dolf - tie up the brat, Liesl - hold the book, Vincent - get the truck, and Keith - darn it, Keith, change your name, it's not scary and I'm embarrassed to say it.