Friday 27 May 2011

Ms Seyfried, What Big Eyes You Have!



Red Riding Hood is a dull but atmospheric fusion of the classic Red Riding Hood legend and the supernatural, teen love triangle antics of Twilight. It's stylish, beautifully designed, lit, scored and cast but a little monotone in it's delivery and execution. Basically a whodunit that weaves the fundamentals of the fairy tale (Grandmother, Big Bad Wolf, Woodcutter, etc) with emotionless shots of angst ridden teens staring longingly at each other. Despite the impressive cast that includes Billy Burke, Virginia Madsen, Michael Hogan and Lucas Haas, its only the beautiful and enigmatic Amanda Seyfried, Julie Christie and a playing-to-the-rafters Gary Oldman (great to see him back in big budget asshole mode again) that stand out amongst the flatness.

Great looking but ultimately lacking in any satisfying drama, horror, romance or suspense.

1 comment:

Nick aka Puppet Angel said...

Agreed.

A nice looking film and Amanda was good (and lovely). But ultimately it was just pointless and hollow teen pap that did nothing with its fairytale aspirations. No scares, no horror, no allegory or underlying theme. It's just a flat and dull teen love triangle and a 'meh' whodunnit.

Reasonably watchable but utterly forgettable, Red Riding Hood just made me want to watch The Company of Wolves and Jennifer's Body again. The first for a quality take on the same fairytale that is actually about something. The second for a fun, witty horror in which Amanda rocks! Gotta love Needy.