Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood
“From the director of Twilight,” clearly states the movie’s poster. So I kinda knew what I was getting myself into when I stepped into the cinema. I had low expectations for the movie and was pleasantly surprised the movie didn’t suck.

Red Riding Hood tells the story of Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), a girl that’s been arranged to wed a rich man, Henry (Max Irons) but is in love with her childhood sweetheart, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). Valerie plans to run away with Peter, but their plans stop short when her sister is murdered by a wolf – the same wolf that the village has been offering monthly sacrifices to keep appeased. The movie revolves around the plot of trying to figure out who the big bad wolf is. Loads of red herrings are purposely placed in the movie to throw the audience off – which is fine, but some seem a bit forced. Especially Valerie’s grandmother.

The cast does a decent job, with Gary Oldman standing out as the overzealous Father Solomon leading the wolf hunt. Peter and Henry – two guys who are supposedly competing for Valerie’s affection don’t seem to be doing much and you can hardly sense the rivalry between them.

The movie somehow reminds me of a less complex The Usual Suspects/Identity/Lucky Number Slevin – but when you discover who the wolf is, it doesn’t really take you by surprise. However, Red Riding Hood is a movie that is decent at best, and Twilight’s director Catherine Hardwicke somewhat redeems herself with this offering. Hopefully she continues to improve with time. Red Riding Hood gets 5/10.

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