Don't let first impressions ruin Hoodwinked for you. No, the animation is not up there with the big boys, but underneath the bland exterior, there beats the heart of an often very funny and rather inventive little animated movie, that shows a lot of promise for future releases from this studio.
In Hoodwinked, we get to learn a whole new Red Riding Hood. yeah, she still looks like the innocent little girl we all know from the fairytale we have heard and read from since we were kids, but underneath that red cape beats the heart of an independent little girl who does not take no crap from any kind of wolf or other monster. And if you think Red Riding Hood is messed up in this movie, just wait until you see the Big Bad Wolf, Granny, or the Woodsman! This is not your average fairy tale, as it now involves robbery, deception, and... Extreme sports?
You see, the four 'heroes' of this movie are caught together after the end of the traditional fairy tale has turned sour. Nobody is killed yet, but it was close. And not only are the foursome suspected of trying to kill each other, there is also the case of the Goody Thief, a burglar who steals the recipes of all the little restaurants in the forest, turning them to bankruptcy and using the ideas to make his own goodies. Luckily, ace detective Nicky Flippers is on hand to solve this case, and together with him we hear the same story four times, alternatively told by all the main characters.
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"Underneath all the inventive little things beats the heart of a traditional animated movie, meaning we get Good Lessons and sweet little songs to add more 'flavor' to the movie."
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This inventive way of telling the movie works very well, especially since it's spiced up with a lot of jokes that actually work, and are not just thrown at us in a hope that at least some will stick, Chicken Little style. Besides that, I like the characters a lot, especially the Big Bad Wolf, who, like in Vertigo Comics series Fables, steals the show. But there are also all sorts of funny smaller characters in this movie, like the hilarious Japeth the Goat, that actually have backgrounds and more than just 2 dimensions. The movie could have been even more successful if it wouldn't have been so easy to guess the conclusion. And underneath all the inventive little things beats the heart of a traditional animated movie, meaning we get Good Lessons and sweet little songs to add more 'flavor' to the movie. I admit that not all these songs are as bad (actually, some are pretty funny), but it would have been better if the lean running time would have been beefed up with more story, and not with the type of songs most people will probably fast forward on their second time watching this DVD.
***½*
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