Review: Hoodwinked Too
Last Updated on Monday, 25 April 2011 23:27 Monday, 25 April 2011 23:24
It's just a tad inappropriate for me to be reviewing this on Easter Sunday as the bunny turned out to be the villain in the 2005 original, but Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil is back on April 29th in theaters and I was lucky enough to see an advanced screening this weekend. But before you get all giddy on fairy tales, let me remind you that this is not Disney. This is the land of make-believe gone wild, think of Hoodwinked and its sequel as more likely to belong to the Shrek family when it comes to fairytale comedy.
Directed my Mike Disa, the voice acting talent is high profile, including Hayden Pannetiere of Heroes fame in the title role of Red Riding Hood, Glenn Close who I shall forever associate with Cruella deVille from 101 Dalmatians and supermodel Heidi Klum, this time starring as a yodelling mercenary named... Heidi! As such, the high expectations of the voice acting I had upon seeing the basic credentials roll out at the start of the film were very well met. There is humor, spunk, and attitude plenty so laughter from the audience was not a lacking response.
As with the previous Hoodwinked film, the villain turned out to be a complete surprise and the plot was made both complicated to trick the viewer as well as simple enough so that the primary target audience (the children) could very well comprehend the film. It all starts when espionage agency HEA (Happily Ever After, for those of you not familiar with fairytale lingo) goes to investigate the disappearance of Hansel and Gretel of Grimm brother fairytale fame and once you throw in a witch, some magic truffles, and a bit of kung fu, things heat up pretty quick. But as anybody who remembers the original, it was the hyperactive Squirrel who made the film for me. Rest assured folks, he is given coffee at some point of the film so the well-loved caffeinated fix that makes him more obnoxious than ever? Totally there.
If you're a fan of comedies and either have children or a child at heart (if not both!) definitely go for it. Keep an open mind and given the plotline, opt for some sweets rather than the savory popcorn or nachos at the concession stand this time around – you'll enjoy the experience just that much more. But if you're all for fairytales for being the classic dream-like stories where all ends well and the good guys are always the good guys, skip out on this. It is good childish fun for the whole family so best treat it as such.
Oh and by the way, did I tell you how much I love the lame pun that the title is? It made me giggle and want to see the movie as soon as I saw the poster!