Red Riding Hood Review
There’s a girl in a red cloak, though she’s a teenager, and there’s a grandmother and a werewolf. Sound familiar? This is the retelling of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. In this film the werewolf has a whole village distraught as he kills, bites and stabs many innocent victims. However, the person he really wants is a beautiful, young women named Valerie (Amanda Seyfriend). Valerie wears her red cloak proudly, as she tries to figure out, who the werewolf really is. Could it be her love interest, and bad boy Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), could it be Henry (Max Irons), who she’s stuck with in an arranged engagement, or could it be a friend or family member whom she’s always trusted? Valerie tries to figure it all out, while trying to stay alive.
Rating: Two out of five buckets
Release Date: March 11, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None
See a clip of my review here!
Talking Points
In this teen version of Little Red Riding Hood, there is a little love saga with Valerie and the boy she wants, and with the boy she’s been arranged to be with. Teens will like the romantic element of the movie.
The movie was not predictable, which I really liked. I had no idea who the werewolf was, until it was revealed at the end of the movie. I won’t give it away.
The thing that bothered me the most were the bad, inadequate actors. It reminded me of actors in a children’s play. However, there were some big names who were great: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman and Julie Christie (the grandmother).
The film had some similarities to Twilight in that the director was the same, and Valerie’s dad (Billy Burke), is the same actor who played Bella’s dad (from Twilight).
Sexual Content: Mild
Some things parents may feel uncomfortable with:
• There are many passionate kisses with Valerie and Peter, the boy with whom she’s in love. In one scene Peter starts to take off her shirt, though we don’t see anything.
• Valerie dreams of having a sexual encounter with Peter. They appear to be naked, though we only see them from their shoulders up.
• Peter dances seductively with another girl, while Valerie dances seductively with another girl…yes a girl!
Violent Content: Mild
Parents may feel uncomfortable with some of the violent scenes in the film, to name a few:
• Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), a werewolf expert whom the villagers contact for help, is a cruel man. He lusts after the village girls, and he tortures a mentally impaired boy. He accuses Valerie of being a witch, and uses her as bait for the werewolf.
• We see the werewolf kill many victims, even biting someone’s hand off.
Crude and Profane Language: None
Overall I felt this was a strange movie; one that I thought that was just okay, not terrible, but not great. There was some romance, drama and mystery, but with all that, I felt the film lacked something…not sure what. Having said that, I interviewed teenage girls (ages 15 to 19) after the movie, who all really liked the film. They thought it was “startling, captivating and mysterious.” It had that Twilight feel about it, I guess I was too busy looking for Edward and Jacob. Appropriate for pre-teens and teens.
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