The classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood, as made famous in print by the 19th century brothers Grimm, is reintroduced to the 21st century with a little poetic licensing. The basic story that is told to nearly every child to warn them about 'stranger-danger' and wolves in sheep's clothing is pretty much intact. The deviations from the tale include a slew of (dare I say it?), Twilight inspired motifs. *NOTE* I am NOT saying that Twilight was the first movie/story to have your ménage à trois and forbidden love elements. I'm just stating that today's heart-throb cinema is now held to a cookie cutter standard for fantasy teen adolescent romance. With that being said, yes... this film does has the run-of-the-mill teen romance. Fortunately, the movie doesn't make you sick of that romance shared by the main characters, Val (red riding hood played adoringly by Amanda Seyfried) and her childhood love, Peter (the wanna-be rugged Shiloh Fernandez). Throw in a few jealous/filler characters, err.... a werewolf, and the stereotypical good-willed yet evil baddie, Gary Oldman (loooove himmmm)... and you'll have the basic gist of the movie. Director Catherine Hardwicke (better known for, you guessed it, Twilight) overly uses the cliché scenes containing: "silence...breathing... then SUDDEN GASP." Personally it got old after the second time. Lighting, camera angles, and even actor blocking seemed to be completely copied from her other film! Apart from the similarities to that movie, Red Riding Hood can actually hold its own. The entire film was just a murder mystery wrapped with a mix of Beowulf and Sleepy Hallow. The set design had a dreary, Germanic medieval atmosphere while the acting, even though it didn't have any particular standouts, was acceptable with the sub-par script. The special effects were decent but really, not much was needed nor really required as much as Oscar-winning monster-flick, Wolfman. This movie screams NETFLIX instant stream but if you are looking for a simple popcorn flick, then Red Riding Hood is waiting at grandmother's house for you.
::Bottom Line::
-Twilight-esque cinematography/romance parallels... could be good or bad, depending if you're 16 or 61
-Quasi predictable plot that actually made the movie fun and kept myself guessing the answer to the mystery
-Gary Oldman is old :( but can still kick ass with accents
::Verdict::
