Red Riding Hood grows up as Amanda Seyfried plays the luscious maiden who carries both dagger and picnic basket.
Seyfried (Letters to Juliet; Dear John; Chloe), wide-eyed and bosomy, wears nubile womanhood well with her hypnotic screen presence. Valerie is a strong heroine as she follows her heart and confronts a werewolf.
Fear and superstition, honor and bravery hold sway within her forest village of Daggerhorn. The people know the ways of herbs, hunting and gathering. They revel in bacchanalia, festivals of dance and drink.
The Wolf is no legend. He haunts the community at the blood moon. The people have appeased him with animal sacrifices for years. Without warning, he strikes down another villager, Valerie’s own sister.
A purple-robed werewolf hunter arrives with a small army who vow to root out evil within any and every villager. Gary Oldman plays Father Solomon with cut-throat fervor.
Like Grendel, the Wolf has his own story to tell, but that’s not revealed until the end of this fanciful reimagining of the Little Red Riding Hood fable by the Brothers Grimm.
Director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) delivers her whimsical, solemn coming of age tale with beautiful set design and good special effects.
A massive, bloodthirsty Wolf speaks in desperate, guttural tones. Dismembered limbs and knife wounds abound. Still the effects are muted with much left to one’s imagination.
Building a contemporary feel are riffs of musical score by Alex Heffes and Brian Reitzell. Heffes, whose film credits include The Last King of Scotland and BAFTA-winning Touching the Void, is known for his modern / experimental style with grand overtones.
Trite, stale dialogue mars what could have been a better film. Still, Red Riding Hood casts a spell with gorgeous aerial photography of the landscape and Valerie, her crimson cloak floating on the wind over white snow.
Best of all is a plot that keeps us guessing. Anyone could be the Wolf as the terrified group descends into petty accusations and witch hunts.
Dashing Shiloh Fernandez (Red; Deadgirl) plays Peter, an orphaned woodcutter and Valerie’s true flame. Max Irons (Dorian Gray; Unrequited Love) – son of Jeremy Irons – plays Valerie’s honorable betrothed.
Hardwicke captures the ripeness of youth, beautiful and handsome, tentative and impetuous, obedient and rebellious.
The three young stars really deliver what it’s like to be young. There’s a strong desire to take on romance, a poignant tenderness towards the elders who love and guide them.
Julie Christie is fascinating as Grandmother, a shaman-like good witch who concocts hearty stews in her own cabin away from the others. Christie’s delivery and sense of drama are wonderful. Wearing lots of dangly jewelry and earthy shawls, she wove Valerie’s bright red cape (an early wedding present).
Billy Burke (Twilight) and Virginia Madsen (Monk; The Event) protect their daughter. Mama is eager to marry Valerie off to well-to-do Henry, who she doesn’t love.
Valerie’s independent spirit lives throughout the film and its surreal, seductive ending.
May that primeval howl live on in all of us.
If you like Red Riding Hood, you might enjoy: The Eagle; Splice; 127 Hours.
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Red Riding Hood 2011 / PG-13 / 1 hour, 40 min
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Megan Charpentier, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, DJ Greenburg, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen, Lukas Haas, Julie Christie
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Genre: Thriller, Supernatural Thriller, Horror, Romantic Drama
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