724. Hoodwinked! (2005)

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Patrick Warburton, Glenn Close

Director: Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards

Running Time: 80 mins

Hoodwinked! is an American film, based on the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood, about the events that unfold after a wolf bursts into Granny’s home, dresses up as her, and waits to eat Little Red Riding Hood.

You know that story, but what this film does so brilliantly is take the total mick out of everything about the fairytale genre, almost in the same way as Shrek, but even more so, with a mad story, hilariously ridiculous characters and a whole lot of laughs.

The only thing I would say is that, although this does go even further into satirising fairytales than Shrek, maybe it’s a little too far. Shrek had not only the laughs, but (in the first two at least), had a pretty decent and interesting story, whereas this takes the laughs, rides with them, and ends up with one of the most nonsensical plots you’ve ever seen on screen.

Still, that doesn’t really matter that much when you’re enjoying this film so much because of its brilliant comedy. The film is mainly for kids, and it has a very simplistic element to it, but there are a surprising amount of adult-oriented jokes, i.e. the ones that reference pop culture, and some of the ones that take a bit more than one second to understand.

What this film does really well is how much it reverses what you’d expect from the typical fairytale, and in effect, becomes a much more exciting and interesting story than the original folklore tale, which does add to the fun of it all.

There are also some good performances here. Anne Hathaway was a fun, feisty Red Riding Hood, whoever voiced the squirrel is a pure genius, and Patrick Warburton was absolutely hilarious as The Wolf, probably one of the most memorable voice performances I’ve ever seen/heard.

However, there remains one big problem with this film that you cannot escape despite enjoying it so much: the animation. Now, I don’t know what it’s all about, but this film looks like one of the scripted parts of a PS2 computer game, and is just totally bizarre to watch all the way through.

Overall, though, this gets a 7.5, because despite its odd story and weird animation, it’s got a certain charm to it that kept me laughing all the way through.