Hoodwinked
Director: Cory Edwards
Rated: G
Now showing

I'm a man who's yet to attempt jumping on a bandwagon without missing completely and landing in the mud. When 'Finding Nemo' came out I thought, "So it's a fish film" and went back to sleep. Chagrined by this and many similar successes, I've since kept an eye on the world of animated cinema. Which is why I was crammed into a cinema along with a multitude of excited children to see 'Hoodwinked'.

The idea behind this film is not dissimilar to that which made the 'Shrek' films so popular: the classic fairy-tale given a sly, post-modern twist. In this case it is one of the most known and loved stories, that of Little Red Riding Hood, being updated. 'Case' being the operative word; the story treats Granny's cottage as a crime scene, with the debonair detective Nicky Flippers, a frog, suspecting all the characters of being the "Goody Bandit" who's putting snack vendors out of business by stealing their recipes.

In another break with tradition for a kiddie film, the story flashes back and forth between versions given by Little Red, Granny, the Wolf and the Woodsman, each casting the characters in a new light. Of the four, the Woodsman (voiced by Jim Belushi), actually an aspiring actor, is the weakest story; the standout is the Wolf, brought to hilarious life by Patrick Warburton, who's tracking down the Bandit himself. Red (Anne Hathaway) provides the heart while Granny (Glenn Close), whose life is a lot more exciting than it seems, brings attitude and a lot of the humour. David Ogden Stiers obviously enjoys his smooth-talking role as Flippers, bouncing off plodding Chief Grizzly (Xzibit). Other recurring characters are the sweet bunny Boingo (Andy Dick) and the Wolf's manic squirrel sidekick Twitchy, played incredibly by director Cory Edwards.

In many ways the film doesn't measure up to others in the medium. The animation is not as polished, but then the budget was smaller, and the results have a quirky style that, for me, worked very well. There are plenty of pop culture references, of course, and jokes that will appeal to both adults and kids, but 'Hoodwinked' does occasionally feel a little uncomfortable with its material in a way that the Pixar films, for example, never do. However, the soundtrack is a big improvement on Disney fair, and the Goody Bandit, when finally unmasked (no big challenge for adult viewers), is a satisfyingly sinister villain.

So no, 'Hoodwinked' will not take over the world like 'Shrek' did. The ending leaves open the possibility of a sequel, but I'd be surprised if it came about. Nonetheless there's plenty of action, humour, colour and fine acting in this film, which makes it well worth being dragged along to by the little ones.

Henry Nicholls