Susan Granger’s review of “Hoodwinked” (The Weinstein Company)
It’s too bad that this revisionist fairy tale wasn’t released during the holiday season because it’s just the kind of comedic distraction that parents seek for vacationing children.
Obviously inspired by “Shrek,” it’s a skewed Girl N the Hood story, as Red (voiced by Anne Hathaway) treks through the woods to visit her Granny (voiced by Glen Close), only to discover what turns out to be a crime scene. The Wolf (voiced by Patrick Warburton) isn’t very well disguised and Granny tumbles out of the closet just as an axe-wielding Woodsman (voiced by James Belushi) bursts through the window. That scene sets the stage for a police investigation, led by a dapper frog called Nicky Flippers (voiced by David Ogden Stiers) and Chief Grizzly (Xzbit), in which each of the suspects recalls, “Rashomon”-like, what happened.
The cleverness lies in the sly characters created by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech. Feisty Red, for example, is a martial-arts expert who packs pepper spray, while Granny is a spunky extreme-sports aficionado. The Wolf is an under-the-covers reporter for the Once Upon a Times, investigating a “Goody Bandit” who has perpetrated a mysterious series of recipe thefts, and the Woodsman is an insecure, out-of-work actor/yodeler who drives a Schnitzel Stick truck.
While the colorful Kanbar computer animation is, admittedly, modest, the bold, hip attitude, heartwarming songs and fast pace should satisfy even the most restless of youngsters, particularly the rickety roller-coaster ride on a mountain train and a runaway cable car – as parents chuckle at the clever pop-culture references. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Hoodwinked” is an inventive, sweetly satirical 7, a fun-filled family diversion.
