Red Riding Hood (2011) - Catherine Hardwicke
The first in the latest tradition of taking fairy tales away from their Disney versions (look out for two new versions of Snow White out soon), this is also the new film from Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke.
As can be expected then, this film is made for fans of the shiny vampire series. A brilliant storyline becomes muddled and confused with the obligatory love scenes and random angsty close-ups tailored specifically for Twilight fans.
The basic plot of the film seems like the perfect murder mystery albeit set in a medival time. A werewolf stalks a village, but who is it? It's a perfect whodunnit, with each new body adding a bit more to the mystery. However, this isn't given enough attention. The focus keeps changing too often and too quickly between the wolf plot and the boring romance plot, neither have any affect on the other.
We see this world through the eyes of Valerie, played by Amanda Seyfried. Unfortunately, she suffers from 'Bella-Swann' syndrome- she seems to be universally loved, even though she is actually incredible dull and doesn't do anything. This is not a critcism of Seyfried- she's actually very good with what she's given, much better than Kristen 'one-expression' Stewart and is a lot more likeable (I can't help but wonder if Twilight would have worked better with her... my guess is 'hell, yes!').
And the Twilight comparisons don't stop there. Enter Edward and Jacob... sorry, Peter and Henry, the two boys fighting over Bella/Valerie. The marketing focused on this love triangle, obviously wanting to draw in the Twilight fans. But to be honest, anything with the two boys just kills the film stone dead, with unnecessray scenes and shots that take attention away from the much meaty affair of the 'whodunnit' mystery.
It may surprise you to hear Gary Oldman is in this movie. It could have been such a great role, the evil witchfinder, who thinks everyone is a suspect and will stop at nothing to get them to confess. However, his character is just confusing; he could have been put to much better use, instead of just shouting all the time.
What I believe this movie needed then, was to dump the love story and make it a much darker mystery thriller. Amanda Seyfried is a talented actress and given the right treatment of the script, this could have been her chance to carry a movie. But the confusing plot muddled in with the dull (and frankly pointless) romantic storyline just kills this movie for me.
Rating: 3 out of 10
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