Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil

Picking up the story where the previous one left off (more or less) this film continues a fairy tale world where Red Riding Hood is not quite as helpless as she is in the original tales and where Granny is something else entirely. The characters are, to an extend, the same as they were in the first film - but quite sadly that is the end of the comparability of the two.

Where the original film is a quirky "whodunnit" that attempts to solve a crime by having the audience sit through several viewpoints on the events that happened this sequel is a sequence of standard events that seems to be stolen from several other films - and stolen poorly at that.

As a comedy it doesn't work - good scenes are few and far apart. As a twisted fairy tale it doesn't work either - it's not convoluted enough by far. As an animation film it doesn't work either - it's bland and many scenes feel overly easy.

All in all, an insult to the first film and I only didn't feel cheated out of paying because my kid did seem to like it (he's never seen the original though) 5 out of 10 sequels too many

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 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.

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.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the first Hoodwinked, while it was not perfect, I loved the fun story, the voice cast, the clever dialogue and catchy soundtrack. Although I hadn't heard many good things about Hoodwinked Too! I naturally wanted to see if it was at least watchable. Watching it online, while I was not expecting it to be better than or as good as the original, I was in all honesty expecting much better than this.

The only real reason why I don't rate it any lower is the voice cast, the standouts being David Ogden Stiers, Joan Cusack and Patrick Warburton, even if the latter's material isn't anywhere near as as funny or clever here he still does a credible job with the delivery. Hayden Panettiere also does a spirited job as Red, and Glenn Close while like Warburton not having standout material does what she can.

On the other hand, I just wasn't engaged with it at all. The story is a big reason why. I loved the idea, and it started off great, but it very quickly became very predictable, part of me felt that some of the plot seemed over-stretched sometimes and the film generally lacked the first film's snappy pacing. Another problem is the script, I missed the clever wit and the sly references here. Everything seemed rather obvious and tired.

Hoodwinked Too! also suffers from the characters not having any likability or charm. Almost all of them are underused and very bland. Although Ogden Stiers does do all he can, his character is rather thankless. In fact for me, only Big Bad Wolf and Cusack's Witch sparked any interest. What there is of the soundtrack is very forgettable, nothing's there to make it catchy.

And I didn't like the animation here. I have heard much from those who didn't like the first film's animation, I personally liked the colours and backgrounds there, but some of the character designs in that film took some getting used to. The animation here though is in my opinion pretty messy. The backgrounds are tolerable if nothing special, but the colouring is dull and the character designs blocky.

In conclusion, a bland and uninspired sequel to a surprisingly enjoyable film. 3/10 Bethany Cox