Which now brings us full circle back to another ambitious failure, that might not really be that ambitious. Red Riding Hood tries to take a fairy tale for children and give it a suspenseful, moody atmosphere fit for adults. It doesn’t work and that’s mostly because the movie seems more content to rip off Twilight than actually create a universe of its own. I wish I could recommend this movie, and honestly I hate to admit I enjoyed parts of it, but I just can’t.
What Works: The true identity of the Big Bad Wolf was actually a surprise to me, and I’m usually pretty good at seeing stuff like that coming. The opening shots of an ominous looking countryside with weird shaped straw stacks got me excited for a moody, atmospheric thriller (which The Village also promised almost a decade ago but didn’t deliver) that never really shows up. And Amanda Seyfried practically glows in every scene she’s in, she’s a true movie star that will find the right vehicle one day (interestingly, she was originally cast as the lead in Sucker Punch). Also the movie has a comfortable mood that makes you okay with killing a couple of hours watching it, even if none of it is that interesting…
What Doesn’t Work:…None of it is that interesting. Also, the reveal of the Big Wolf might be surprising (mostly because the movie has cast suspicion on everyone at one point or another) but it is also a big letdown. Gary Oldman does some of the worst acting of his career in a hammy performance. And the last scene is so bad some people were laughing.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Made the wolf look hellish and scary instead of like a vague, poorly designed cloud of black fog. Pushed the gothic mood more and the Twilight-isms less, Twilight isn’t supposed to be scary or really have a strong atmosphere, this movie needed one. I do think an actual gothic horror movie with Red Riding Hood running through the forest away from the wolf could work, and this movie could have been it, but it isn’t.