La Véritable Histoire du Petit Chaperon rouge

HOODWINKED easily could have been an excellent film. Who hasn't heard of Little Red Riding Hood? It unfolds as an ongoing investigation into the facts, where each character, one by one, recounts events from their own perspective. Sound interesting? Well, it seems HOODWINKED was truly well conceived, but experienced several setbacks during its execution.

What began in the mid-nineties with Toy Story, soon followed by SHREK and Finding Nemo, the C G I Category (Computer Generated Images) continues to establish itself as a more dominant genre with each passing year! But ALL CGI movies can't be a TOY STORY, a SHREK or a FINDING NEMO (Shame, that!)

First off, the animation in HOODWINKED, by Weinstein Studios(??) just didn't manage to convince me! In their intent to mimic the "CLAYMATION" of Wallace and Grommit, they placed a limitation on themselves which impeded them from realizing the full potential of the CGI process. In addition, they were incapable of making a film like SHREK, for example, which encountered great acceptance from both adults and from children alike! Nevertheless, since there are really so few good comedies nowadays, HOODWINKED Is quite acceptable! 6.75******* SEP/07.

Hoodwinked was an example of a film that was much better than I expected. It is an amusing family film, that kids will definitely enjoy, and as a 17 year old female I too enjoyed it. Yes, it is too short, and the animation isn't always that great. But one thing I did love about Hoodwinked is that it is very funny, many funny lines in the script but one of my personal favourites was "the singing was good but the choreography was terrible". The story is a very original one, about a goodie bandit, and the search in the fairy tale world for the real culprit. It is well told, and fizzles with energy. As I said, where the film is least impressive is in some of the animation. Nice colours and backgrounds, but apart from a very clever roller-coaster-like ride on the side of a mountain, it just lacked at times visual invention, and the character animation was a tad awkward. Plus the film at less than eighty minutes is too short. Despite all that, there is a lot to recommend it, the funny script and the story do compensate hugely. Other pros are the very groovy soundtrack, and a terrific voice cast that include Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, David Ogden Stiers and Patrick Warburton. All in all, not perfect, but very funny and original, so I do recommend it. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a very fast paced movie that plays to the two levels successful animated films play to: The kids are entertained, but so are the parents. There are zingers that come out of nowhere, some but not all of which are shown on the trailer. Some of those zingers will only catch the attention of the adults in the house, but don't detract from kids' enjoyment. But some will get all generations to laugh, like the "Run!!!" sequence from the trailer. A four second bit.

I was at a screening attended by families in the business, but mostly kids. Hard laughter throughout the movie. As for quality of animation, which was clearly done on the cheap, you don't notice it. The basic story quality is there. I think it is also possible that this film may nab a best song nomination. Some very catchy original tunes, well orchestrated and well sung. All in all, worth the trip to the theater, and worth buying the DVD.

Sequel probable.

I'm not going to give Hoodwinked a harsh review like so many others. This is primarily a kids movie, nothing more, nothing less. All the kids in the cinema that I was in were roaring with laughter and I must admit at times I was also laughing out loud. Some of the older people and parents will enjoy the references it makes to other movies and fairy tales, although they are dumbed down for the suited audience.

The plot is almost like an animated, kids version of Pulp Fiction. Many different stories (told by Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf, The Woodsman and Granny) intertwine.

The voice actors all do a great job with their characters and the animation, although nowhere near the best, was still pretty good. The characters were all hilarious, the funniest being a singing goat and a nutty squirrel (who I think was high).

3/5.

Now here is a modern-day animated film that is hard to classify. It's part film noir, part fantasy, part comedy, part Indiana Jones adventure, part Thin Man detective, on and on. One thing for sure: although kids might like it, this movie is geared more for adults. Even older adults as some of the humor is referenced by classic movies.

I doubt if this was a hit movie probably because of the above. Animated films need to be geared toward young kids who want to see it, and then get their parents to take them to the theater. I'm not complaining, just explaining why some of you may not have heard of this film. I heard about it by accident, since it got very little publicity.

More than the geared-toward adults-dialog, what fascinated me were the visuals. I read where other reviewers here on IMDb downgrade the artwork but I disagree. This is beautifully drawn with magnificent colors that are not bold and bright, Although most animated films of today feature bright and bold colors, which look fantastic, this looked good, too, because of the richness of the colors. It's hard to describe; you have to see it. It just looks different, but very pleasing to my eyes.

Overall, the story was only so-so and sometimes lagged in the first half of it, but I get the feeling this DVD will rise in my ratings as I see it multiple times.

If you are looking for an animated film and story that is different, look no further.