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 Actually, I found the outdated CGI to add another layer of quirkiness to this little flick!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

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 movie has such great comedic points for both children and adults. First time I saw it I was in 6th grade at the ripe age of 11 and remember laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. Here I am now, 14 years later, and it still brings me such joy. I feel as though this is a comfort movie that provides an excellent twist on a classic fairytale (Shrek style, if I may) that brings joy and amusement. Great for all ages.

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!

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.