 A still from the movie  | Critic's Rating: *** Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Julie Christie, Shiloh Fernandes, Max Irons Direction: Catherine Hardwicke Genre: Fantasy Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes Readers Rating: ** |
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Semi-horror, semi-Twilight
Story: Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) lives in a village in the midst of a dense forest where a dangerous wolf has been on the prowl since long. She doesn't care much about the horror stories and prefers to spend her time romancing the hunky woodcutter, Peter (Shiloh Fernandes) and proposes to run away with him someday. Trouble begins when the wolf kills her sister, her mother insists she marries rich guy Henry (Max Irons) and the wolf hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) brands her a witch.
Movie Review: Red Riding Hood anyone? Well, there's a wolf, there's a grandmother, there's a woodcutter and there's a pretty girl in a red hood. So far, so good. But if you go looking for a copy book rendition of the Grimm's fairy tale, as in the case of Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, you're obviously mistaken. Again, if you are hoping for a revolutionary adult re-invention of the kiddie story, you're mistaken once more. Because Catherine Hardwicke's reworking of every kid's favourite bedtime story, Red Riding Hood, resurfaces in the Twilight zone: neither a full blown horror flick, nor a contemporary feminist fable. Instead, an oft-seen saga of werewolves and their predilection for spunky maidens.
Can't blame the director, Catherine Hardwicke, can we? Having made the first instalment in the Twilight series, she still seems to have a hangover about drama that revolves round vampires and werewolves, lusting for pretty young things. But a word of applause here for her protagonist this time round. Valerie is quite unlike Bella Swan and has a delicious appetite for the wicked and the wild. As a little girl, she prefers to break rules, disobey her mother, wander into the forest and hunt rabbits with her childhood friend, Peter. As an adult, she doesn't think twice before taking a tumble in the hay and is more than willing to run away with him to a life of disarray, instead of settling down with the rich and sober Henry.
Yes, the fun part of this film lies in the characterisation of Valerie as a vixen that ends up as a perfect match to the werewolf who waits patiently for her at the brink of civilisation. Of course the medieval mumbo-jumbo that enters the plot with the arrival of the poorly etched character of Father Solomon does derail the drama. For Red Riding Hood might have ended up as a modern metaphor on feminism (there's a whole lot of spunk 'neath the Hood), but the religiosity reduces the verve.
Watch it for the excellent production design, the breath-taking cinematography (Mandy Walker) and for Amanda Seyfried's rendition of go-go girls who gotta break some rules. And don't forget to savour Julie Christie's glamorous granny act. Wish there was more of her.
Story: Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) lives in a village in the midst of a dense forest where a dangerous wolf has been on the prowl since long. She doesn't care much about the horror stories and prefers to spend her time romancing the hunky woodcutter, Peter (Shiloh Fernandes) and proposes to run away with him someday. Trouble begins when the wolf kills her sister, her mother insists she marries rich guy Henry (Max Irons) and the wolf hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) brands her a witch.
Movie Review: Red Riding Hood anyone? Well, there's a wolf, there's a grandmother, there's a woodcutter and there's a pretty girl in a red hood. So far, so good. But if you go looking for a copy book rendition of the Grimm's fairy tale, as in the case of Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, you're obviously mistaken. Again, if you are hoping for a revolutionary adult re-invention of the kiddie story, you're mistaken once more. Because Catherine Hardwicke's reworking of every kid's favourite bedtime story, Red Riding Hood, resurfaces in the Twilight zone: neither a full blown horror flick, nor a contemporary feminist fable. Instead, an oft-seen saga of werewolves and their predilection for spunky maidens.
Can't blame the director, Catherine Hardwicke, can we? Having made the first instalment in the Twilight series, she still seems to have a hangover about drama that revolves round vampires and werewolves, lusting for pretty young things. But a word of applause here for her protagonist this time round. Valerie is quite unlike Bella Swan and has a delicious appetite for the wicked and the wild. As a little girl, she prefers to break rules, disobey her mother, wander into the forest and hunt rabbits with her childhood friend, Peter. As an adult, she doesn't think twice before taking a tumble in the hay and is more than willing to run away with him to a life of disarray, instead of settling down with the rich and sober Henry.
Yes, the fun part of this film lies in the characterisation of Valerie as a vixen that ends up as a perfect match to the werewolf who waits patiently for her at the brink of civilisation. Of course the medieval mumbo-jumbo that enters the plot with the arrival of the poorly etched character of Father Solomon does derail the drama. For Red Riding Hood might have ended up as a modern metaphor on feminism (there's a whole lot of spunk 'neath the Hood), but the religiosity reduces the verve.
Watch it for the excellent production design, the breath-taking cinematography (Mandy Walker) and for Amanda Seyfried's rendition of go-go girls who gotta break some rules. And don't forget to savour Julie Christie's glamorous granny act. Wish there was more of her.
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