Hoodwinked!

When it comes to contemporary animations, I think of the witty lines lampooning popular culture while delighting children evident in such features as Wallace and Gromit, Shrek, and Shark's Tale. But now comes Hoodwinked to make me forget those relatively mild satires. This animation, starting where the Red Riding Hood fairy tale left off, is better for adults than children, so quick and sharp are its references and jokes. In fact, although the animations are big-eyed and innocent (both humans and talking animals), their tossed off remarks and robbery-framing set up are worth thinking about as well as enjoying The fun comes when animal world cops bust up a disturbance at Granny's that includes the infamous wolf and some hitherto unknown types along with sweet Red, whose eyes have Keene girl softness. Finding out what Granny does in her secret life is witty, but not half as much fun as watching a suave frog detective weave in and out of these people's stories to end the proceedings, Agatha-Christie- like, with a surprise villain. The animation is soft and colorful, the facial expressions perfectly suited to the world-weary irony you can feel in the animators themselves. Witty and lively, Hoodwinked shows how nothing is as it seems, but who cares if we've been hoodwinked—it's the journey that counts and brings the wisdom. Bruno Bettelheim explains the value of fairy tales like Hoodwinked: "A parent who from his own childhood experience is convinced of the value of fairy tales will have no difficulty in answering his child's questions; but an adult who thinks these tales are only a bunch of lies had better not try telling them; he won't be able to relate them in a way which would enrich the child's life."

I didn't sit through the whole thing, so I can only tell you that the first 20 minutes were so lame and tired, I had to leave and ask to see a different movie. I really like Patrick Warburten (sp?) but not enough to sit through this (or to memorize the spelling of his last name, I guess). And I love animation and try to see everything animated, TV and movie, so it's not like I just don't "get it". It just wasn't good. But I'll give them credit for imagination, even if we've seen spoofs of fables before in movies and on Broadway. Just I think the whole thing was poorly conceived and executed. And the story was just plain dumb. And kids in the theater looked pretty bored when I left.

In 'Hoodwinked' Anne Hathaway does the voice of Red, the devoted delivery girl for Granny's (Glenn Close) treats. She loves the forest, yet she yearns to do more. Her wish is going to come true. Someone is stealing all the recipes in the forest and everyone's treat shops are going out of business; all except Granny's. Who is stealing recipes? Is it Red, Granny, the Big Bad Wolf? Or is it someone else? This is the real story behind Red Riding Hood. We all know the fairy tale, but this is what really happened. In this animated parody you have 'Fletch' meets 'Red Riding Hood'. This was a really funny movie with lots of jokes and unique characters. Glenn Close, Anne Hathaway, Andy Dick and James Belushi (to name a few) all do great jobs. However, I get the impression this was made too much for adults, I do not think kids will enjoy it as much. Some of the special effects seemed a little rushed, but the story makes up for it.