I have to confess that watching Red Riding Hood last weekend made me feel old. Not because of the usual stuff, actors getting younger etc but because I spent a large chunk of the film thinking: 'they'll catch their death wearing that in the snow'.
But then that is the problem with this film. If I'm thinking such inane thoughts while I'm watching then it just isn't engaging enough. There are some nice bits in this reimaging of the traditional fairytale, for instance I liked the 'who dunnit?' element of outing the wolf and there is a nice-ish twist towards the end.
The key issue is that in sexing up the fairy-tale to appeal to teens while giving it children's book look and feel isn't a comfortable partnership.
The leads are in many ways cartoonesque - you could see this as a Disney production but then Valerie has a penchent for killing and skinning fluffy bunnies and getting fruity in the hay barn.
If director Catherine Hardwicke and producers had had the guts to put it in a contemporary setting with a modern twist then it would have been clever and refreshing. That or give it a properly gritty fantasy setting. Sadly she has her feet in both camps.
As a result you don't really engage with the characters and the ending comes with a shrug and a feeling of being mildly entertained but that is about it. So I'm giving it 51%.
The critics have been more savage with Rotten Tomatoes reporting a rating of just 12% from 167 reviews although 50% of visitors to the site gave it a positive review. Metacritic is mildly less harsh with 29% from 36 reviews and an average user rating of 4.2/10.
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