Red Riding Hood is about a village that has been tormented by a wolf for two generations. The story revolves around Valerie, played by Amanda Seyfried. When her sister gets killed by the wolf, the village decides to take matters into their own hands, and finally try to kill the wolf themselves. But when the ruthless Solomon (Gary Oldman) comes to town, he’s bent on teaching the locals how to really hunt the werewolf and causes a stir of trouble. All the while, Valerie is juggling two potential suitors, Peter and Henry. Valerie has been arranged by her family to marry the wealthy Henry (Max Irons), but she is in love with the poor, orphaned Peter (Shiloh Fernandez).
Gaby’s review: Catherine Hardwicke’s first major project after Twilight is here! On paper, this reimagined childhood fairy tale, Red Riding Hood, sounds great. We get a new spin on a classic story, pretty great (and good looking) actors, Leonardo DiCaprio is a producer, and Hardwicke is directing. Unfortunately, the actual film didn’t really pan out too great.
One of things that really bothered me about the film was the editing. It felt a choppy. We cut from one scene, then to an entirely different other. Many times, there weren’t a smooth transitions between scenes. Was it to make us feel more confused? Well, it succeeded, but it also added to my annoyance.
The acting wasn’t as great as it could’ve been. Gary Oldman is in this movie! And I couldn’t wait for him to be gone! It was a mixture of his acting and his being a villain. To be honest, I think a lot of the fault goes toward the script on this matter. He wasn’t given great material. Same case for the rest of the cast, the dialogue handicapped them in a way.
One of the things the movie did right was leading up to the plot twist. It was very hard to predict who the werewolf was. It all came together in those final scenes. Especially with how scattered most of the movie is, I’m glad it all tied up nicely. Another thing I like about Hardwicke’s filmmaking is her attention to little details. I love looking at the production design in her films. I found myself paying attention to the set more than the actors at one point. haha
Would I recommend seeing it? Meh… yes and no. If you really liked Twilight, eye candy, and some pseudo-folk sexually charged dancing, then you should have fun at Red Riding Hood. If you’re not sure you can handle the campiness, I would wait to rent it.
Lucy’s thoughts:
Red Riding Hood isn’t THE best movie out there, regardless, it was enjoyable. I can’t assure you if the “enjoyable” part comes directly from the eye candy that Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons provide LOL. At any rate, here we have another Catherine Hardwicke film, as Gaby mentioned before, I love as well the production design. At the beginning of the film we get aerial shots of the landscape, very Twilight-y with the mountains and all.
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One of the good things about the movie was that I found myself at the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was the werewolf. Also, Gary Oldman, even though this time I clapped and cheered once his character left the screen.
Is this movie a must-see? Not really, but I don’t discourage you from watching it. Remember: all you know about Red Riding Hood needs to be left at the door. Only one scene was the same, when Red Riding Hood asks her grandma: “Oh Grandma, what big eyes you have!” that had more than one in the audience laughing, and I can tell that scene wasn’t meant for people to laugh, anyway, it was cute and went along with the movie. Hardwicke gives us an edgy twist to the famous tale, get ready to be surprised.
Red Riding Hood comes out in theaters tomorrow, March 11th.
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