Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil

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.

When I saw the cover for the movie on Netflix I thought it was lame. But after I forced myself to watch it I saw a world of good come out of it. It was funny and the wolf was funny to. The animation was way better than the last. Also the characters were more interesting and had their own personalities. The parts that I didn't like in the movie was that the ending was a little dry, but it was still acceptable. Some people think its lame but honestly this is a show for only kids not adults. First, its based off fairy tales. Second, it was made for Kids!

In conclusion, this movie was beyond the best and lots of funny references to the original fairy tales. I recommend this movie to kids from 5-13 yrs old.

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

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.

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