La Véritable Histoire du Petit Chaperon rouge

Lots of people bitch about the animation being pretty stone age in this film, and for a reason. Technically, "Hoodwinked" is far behind "Finding Nemo" or "Incredibles". However, if you look past the unpretty exterior, there is plenty of goodies to found inside. Hilarious punchlines and a clever script by far makes up for the lack of jaw-dropping animation. Actually, I found the outdated CGI to add another layer of quirkiness to this little flick! When comparing "Hoodwinked" to other recent releases in the genre, it comes out with flying colors. Where "Chicken Little" and "Valiant" fail, this one really excels! Dialogues are well written and full of treats that makes this one a movie to see more than once. And for once, I even enjoyed the musical numbers, catchy and well performed. It doesn't have any scenes that - like "Shark Tale" - fell plastic or numb, instead it's an 80 minute, twisting and turning roller-coaster that doesn't stop until the credits start rolling. All you have to to is buckle up, and enjoy the ride

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.

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.

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

Hoodwinked is an ultra low budget affair compared to the average 3D CGI-animated film (it was shot for a reported 15 million vs 70 to 90 million for films like Finding Nemo or Shrek 2). If you want a fairer comparison in terms of animation quality, you'd have to look at something like Jimmy Neutron (30 million budget).

What really made the animation work in terms of style is...the style. Hoodwinked almost looks like a revved up Rankin-Bass stop motion animated film in the vein of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Once you get absorbed in the world of Hoodwinked, you stop comparing it to Pixar and simply enjoy the magic little world the creators obviously put so much care into creating.

And the film is indeed absorbing! It starts a little slow, but once the story picks up steam, it is non-stop fun. It's clear that the writers weren't going to let a lower budget stop them from writing a clever and often laugh-out-loud funny script. My kids, aged 12, 8, and 3, giggled throughout the film. Your kids will LOVE the squirrel, the granny, and the singing goat, and adults will pick up more culture references in terms of homage scenes (not in adult content) to pictures like Fletch, Kill Bill, and the Matrix.

One thing comes across very clearly in Hoodwinked--love of the craft. So many seemingly throw away gags end up being very important to the story later on. Enjoy this little gem of an "indie" animated film, and imagine what these young guys could do with a bigger budget next time around!