Hoodwinked is the first shot across the bow by the Weinstein brothers towards Disney and Pixar animation. It’s also as good a children’s film I’ve seen in the past five years. Is it a classic? No. Also, who told you that you could ask questions around here? Reading is not a dynamic activity people.
Hoodwinked is the animated retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story. What’s unique and great about it is the method behind the execution. It’s cartoon Noir at times and “Looney Tunes” at others. The closet explanation I can give is the film feels like “Scrubs” meets The Usual Suspects meets Four Rooms. If you liked any of the preceding you’ll probably like Hoodwinked a bit too. If you don’t like any of those entertainment pieces I’ll ask you to kindly grab your stuff and head toward the exit as you are a “bump on a log”. Sorry for your luck on that one.
At some point in animation someone clever figured out you had to keep the adults entertained too. Wackiness for the kids, cleverness for the adults, so goes the mantra. You could argue all day whether it was Disney with films like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid or Pixar with Toy Story and Monsters Inc. but whichever way you argue you’ll have to admit there is an undeniable change in the way animated pictures are made. A simple animated fare no longer fits the bill.
With that said an argument could be made that Hoodwinked is another evolution of the genre. It’s a film that will entertain adults as much as children. My only two complaints about the film are: 1) It may be too complex for kids to fully appreciate it and 2) The theme is just okay, by which I mean any Little Red Riding Hood story would be okay with me – just okay. Other than that the film is very solid and I laughed out loud more than once. The soundtrack is also very good and probably worth owning which is rare for a children’s film. I don’t think it is good enough to recommend as a date movie or anything but for folks with spawn it’s a definite winner.
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