Review of Red Riding Hood (2011) by Steven G — 15 Jul 2012

Finally. This, is how you do a fairy tale reboot. This is a perfect dark imagining of the classic tale. The visual style of the movie is really cool, and very well done. My favorite touches included her red cloak being literally the only bright thing in the movie, and that every single person in the village had brown eyes except her.

(Which also makes a lot of sense in context with the movie.) So, great job to Catherine Hardwicke and team for that. The story is compelling, quickly paced, and filled with twists and turns that I didn't even expect.

As for the identity of the wolf, there are literally five or six different people it could be, and personally I was constantly changing in my head who I thought it was. When the final reveal is done, it is done really cleverly, and it is shocking as well.

This script also does a good job of for the most part, taking its own path with the classic story, but throwing in classic bits from the story to tie everything together. (Including the "grandmother what big eyes you have" bit) and another one at the reveal that was reimagined quite well.

The acting in it is great, Amanda Seyfried never puts in a bad performance in my opinion. Gary Oldman was fantastic as Father Solomon, the priest who ends up turning the whole town against each other, as he stirs up the werewolf/witchcraft frenzy.

A really nice touch, as it reminded me of situations in The Salem Witch Trials, or even in the play The Crucible. I also really liked Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons, as the men competing for her. It added a nice romance plot to the story and face it, those guys are not hard to look at.

Overall, a perfect example of what the dark fairy tale reboot should look like, and what I hope will be an example for all of these remakes coming out.