Das Rotkäppchen-Ultimatum

Think back to 2005 when the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood was rewritten in a cute format, full of mediocre comedy, ridiculous antics, lots of loud screaming, an X-Files approach to getting the answers and a demented bunny that tied everything together. Yes it was none other than the first Hoodwinked. Today I watched the sequel to this cute spin of Red Riding Hood and I'm here to report that it has deviated from this formula.

Hoodwinked Too begins with a quick, exciting chase scene involving a witch, two fat kids, a wolf, a coffee induced squirrel, and a couple of background animals. Granny is still the master daredevil and shows us the amazing moves shes famous for from the first one, except this time its on a hog. However after this brief, thrilling, funny scene, the movie takes a quick turn to Red and her secret training ground. Here we learn about her attitude problem and how she has to work with a team instead of being alone. Once these scenes are done, the movie essentially is laid out for you to predict. You clearly can guess who the bad guys are, you can guess what is going to happen to the accomplices, and you pretty much can guess everything that is going to happen in this movie. As a result, this movie really has no twists to it.

So is this movie worth watching? Well in my opinion it depends on what you want to see. One great thing about this movie is that Twitchy the squirrel has a lot of screen action and has a lot of hyperactive, funny movements and skills that will make kids laugh their heads off, and maybe some adults as well. The squeaky voice may get on some parents nerves, but I assure you that kids will love this funny colorful character. A second thing that parents might enjoy a little more, or adults who like CGI movies is the constant references to James Bond and the catchy one liners that this movie can throw at you. The wolf in particular has a couple of shrek like lines that adults will get more than kids, but it still doesn't match the brilliance that the green ogre has shown. A third thing I will say is good about this movie is that its not slow at all. The movie keeps a brisk pace and allows anybody with a short attention span to be centered on the movie and not drifting to sleep, which I find as a big positive. Also the woodsmen yodelers were pretty good as well, but their role in the movie was too short for me and should have been expanded.

If you're a fan of Granny however, then you may not enjoy this movie as much as the master spy plays a very low key role in this movie. Aside from that beginning scene I mentioned, Granny has a few quick flips, tricks, and kicks that are diluted from her classic role. Some of the comedy in this movie is also very slap sticky and beat you over the head, especially gags about disguises and what not, which does get a little old. The story is weak as well, and really did not impress me as much as the first one did. Although the first story was not a masterpiece, it still was a creative look on the red riding hood story. This one deviated a little too much for my taste and should have tried to get another story going, without putting in so much secret agent warfare.

Okay recommended audience for this movie, definitely viewers who have kids that like squeaky, hyperactive characters, this movie has a lot of them. Fans of the fairy tale parodies may appreciate this film as well, though may not be as impressed by this film as others. Overall for this kind of movie I'll say a 6.5 maybe 7 at the most for a good try at a fun kids film. However, it just doesn't reach out to a large audience like Pixar and Disney do in their work. Until next time, this is rgkarim signing out. Please email me if you have any ideas to improve my writing at rgkarim@mail.roanoke.edu

Six years after "Hoodwinked!" we get "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil." Hayden Panettiere took over the duties as the voice of Red Riding Hood while Glenn Close remained as the voice of Granny, Patrick Warburton was kept as the voice of The Big Bad Wolf, and David Ogden Stiers stayed on as the voice of Nicky Flippers.

Red went off to Hood training to become a ninja master of sorts, which left Granny and the Wolf as the star agents of the HEA (Happily Ever After) agency. Granny and the Wolf were trying to stop Verushka the Witch (Joan Cusack) from eating Hansel and Gretel (Bill Hader and Amy Poehler) when Granny was kidnapped. It seems that Granny was the true target because of her knowledge of a secret truffle recipe that imbued its consumer with unstoppable powers.

This sequel wasn't as good as the first which is normal for sequels. I don't think it was as terrible as the IMDb rating. It was a little more adult than I would have liked, but it wasn't appalling. Hansel and Gretel were funny and the hoodwinking was creative. As far as sequels go I think this was more than adequate.

The original Hoodwinked was a clever movie, giving us a twist on the Little Red Riding hood fable, making it into a crime caper. It was well written and very funny.

The sequel seems uninspired and poorly conceived. Nothing clever here. A few witty moments strung together into an adventure movie that isn't nearly as clever. Some characters were just thrown in because they were liked (the goat) and didn't serve any other purpose, other characters just seemed odd and uninteresting (the harp), and the main characters, while true to their original conceptions, were stuck in a weaker, more convoluted plot.

At least the first half of the movie had its funny moments. The last half of the movie seemed tired and uncreative.

I am not in the movie's primary demographic however (being 45). My sons, ages 4 and 7, enjoyed the movie very much and laughed quite a bit. So if you are a parent, take your kids. They'll probably enjoy it. If you're not a parent and you like computer animated features, don't set your expectations very high.

This movie doesn't work like the first one and if possible the computer graphics have deteriorated with sometimes ridiculous effects. The villain of the first movie was obvious but credible despite everything. The villain of this movie, on the other hand, makes absolutely no sense and I think there is also a bit of fatshaming.

The first Hoodwinked had poor animation, but was made on a budget and had a fantastic script. It was witty, clever, and most of all likable. Hoodwinker Too seems like it was created by a new batch of film makers that completely missed the point. It wasn't. The original writers return, but I don't know what happened to the humour. The animation isn't great, but that could be excused by quality content. What isn't excusable is the awful shot composition. There's a fight scene that looks like a 2D side- scrolling platformer. The jokes are few and far between, and as the movie tries to expand on its forest origins into a big city, it only shows the lack of funds and resources, as you see the same characters over and over again. The voice work isn't terrible, but it's hard to care towards the end. The original had clever mystery with a Rashomon narrative. Here it's all linear, and tries to spoof too many action movies.