Since
our trip to Sundance had put us badly behind schedule on a handful of regular
releases I decided to take the kids and hit the five-o-clock showing of Hoodwinked.
I don’t think either of them had been overly exposed to the tale of Little
Red Riding Hood, and naturally wouldn’t know Rashomon from Top Ramen, but
they love to play Clue, so I at least had that much going for me.
Hoodwinked
is the second effort from newcomers Cory and Todd Edwards, (Chillicothe) and the
feature debut from the new animation house on the block (Kanbar Animation Studios)
let’s just say that no one at Pixar or Disney is going to be shaking in their
Puss n’ Boots. The look of Hoodwinked is, I dare say, closer to Rankin and
Bass, than those incredibles over at Pixar and they churn out this inferior but
more or less passable product from Manila in the Philippines. It does, however,
clip along at a brisk pace even though you do miss the amazing detail that is
the watermark of the digital heavyweights mentioned above.
The
film begins very near the fairytale’s exciting finale - Red is just getting
to her Grandmother’s cottage, the wolf is laying in wait, disguised as Granny,
Granny is tied up in the closet and the Woodsman is poised to step in just as
the day needs saving. At this point the story goes Agatha Christie. There’s
some fun stuff happening here - the forest police turn out to be the Three Little
Pigs (ha ha ha) who promptly cordon off the crime scene so that the intrepid detective
Nicky Flippers (a dapper frog voiced by David Ogden Stiers) can begin his interrogation.
He question each of the suspects individually and from that point the story begins
to unravel in Rashomon style - as we see the events that lead up to the crime
through the eyes of each of the four major players.
Hoodwinked
has a daffy go lucky kind of pace that keeps the kids involved and of course there
is the dual level script that keeps the pop-cultural winks coming for the adults,
especially when certain inconsistencies in the main players stories start to raise
eyebrows all around. Red (Anne Hathaway) appears perfectly innocent, but her story
is just a little to pat? And why did the Woodsman just happen to be waiting at
the window at such an opportune moment? Hmm . . .
The
plot twist thrown in to give the story its legs revolves around some dastardly
characters known as the “Goody Bandits.” It seems that the recipes for
the tasty confections that have kept many of the Ma and Pa muffin-businesses thriving
for years have suddenly turned up missing and as a result a lot of Goody establishments
have been forced out of business. Granny (Glenn Close) runs a very successful
Goody store and the way things are shaping up, she may very well be the next victim
of the nefarious candy bandits.
Meanwhile
Inspector Flippers' interrogations have turned up some unexpected and suspicious
facts - is it possible that there's more to these beloved fairy tale favorites
than meets the eye? The problem with Hoodwinked is that it just doesn’t know
when to quit. After all four characters have testified we still have not ascertained
the identity of the Goody Bandit and so on we drag into the somewhat dull details
of an overly complicated subplot that might not bother the tweens, but for parents
with toddlers be warned - you could here the fidget engines firing up all over
the theater.
Hoodwinked
does offer enough memorable characters to insure a healthy DVD afterlife (twitchy
the squirrel, a big bear of a sheriff and a singing mountain goat) are definite
standouts, plus Red gets a great musical number courtesy of the inimitable ivory
tickler - Ben Folds. Still the film would have been much more effective had they
been able to wrap it up during the Rashomon portion - instead of allowing the
dread itchity, twitchitys to wiggle up the pantlegs of the young ‘uns. Is
it possible that neither Edwards brother has children? Inspector Flippers needs
to get right on that.
