Friday, March 23, 2012

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood

Released:  2011

Rated:  PG-13

Genre:  Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance

Length:  100 minutes; 1hr 40min.

Recommendation:  If you enjoy romance, this re-tale could be for you.  Or if on TV one day, and nothing else to do, check it out.

Synopsis:
Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) is a beautiful young woman torn between two men.  She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (Max Irons).  Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village.  For years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice.  But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life.  Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), to help them kill the wolf.  But Solomon's arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them.  As the death toll rises with each moon...

My Thoughts & Summary:
Valerie has grown up with a dark young man, and has fallen in love with him.  Valerie and Peter decide to run away together, when there is a death in town.  The victim of the werewolf is her older sister.  Valerie then learns her parents have arranged her to marry Henry; a richer young man in town.  The two men silently fight for Valerie's affections, while hunting the werewolf who now is attacking people in their village.  Then trapped by the werewolf one night, Valerie learns she can hear him talking to her in her mind.  Now the mystery becomes which person in town is the werewolf, and wants Valerie the most.

I don't know what I was expecting.  Maybe a more scary take or story on the werewolf.  It was there, and we were constantly wondering who the werewolf was, but the main story line seemed, to me, to be a romance.  Which man would Valerie pick to spend her lasting days with.  I think I was wanting something more, something else, even though this was an okay watch for me.

My husband got through this movie with me.  He was okay with it.  I was okay with it, something to kick back with.  One thing I think that kept us going was wondering who the wolf was.  We kept guessing, as every person was made suspect in our eyes by their unknowing, or knowing? actions.  And the mention of brown human eyes.  Dang!  The whole town had brown eyes! LOL!

This is, to me, more a love story than a horror story.  It's a remake of the Little Red Riding Hood with a romantic twist.  Oh, you have a few little fight scenes and some blood too.  But interesting twist at the end, with Little Red, and the pieces fit together when I found out who the wolf was.

12 comments:

  1. I think it was quite the opposite for me. I was expecting something I wouldn't like, so I was very surprised at the end. it was a nice movie.

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    1. Melliane - I just don't think I was expecting as much romance to this as I got. I don't know where I was for the year everyone was talking about it. lol. I think I missed that. ;D Thank you!

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  2. Out of all my friends, I think I was the only one who really liked this one.

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    1. Robyn, its a good movie. I just didn't realize the romance part of the movie was a strong line with the wolf part. I some how missed that when everyone was talking about it. But was a good watch.

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  3. I know this was panned by a lot of people. I have just read the book, and honestly, I found that the book was fine. I thought it was an interesting departure from what we are used to in the story. I still have yet to see the film. I think I'll have to watch it soon. See if NetFlix has it for instant viewing yet. :)

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    1. Melissa (books&Things) - I would be curious to read the book. Books are usually better than the movies. This wasn't a bad watch, it was good. I just didn't realize the love triange was such a strong line in the story, with the wolf. I do hope you enjoy it. I'm curious to hear what you think of it when you watch it.

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  4. I kept guessing who it was, and in the end I had thought it was every freaking soul in that village. Lol, I suck at that

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    1. LOL! Blodeuedd, you sound just like us! We were wondering as the whole town had brown eyes and looked guilty as sin. lol.

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  5. I don't mind the romance, but a werewolf story has to have a lot of scary thrills for me. The last one I loved was the one with Anthony Hopkins - that was awesome! But this one has Gary Oldman so I think I'll watch it anyway one of these days.

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    1. StephanieD - I think that's what I was looking for, I was in the mood for more scary werewolf parts. Oh well. Was a good movie. Thank you! I'll have to check out that werewolf movie. :)

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  6. I didn't watch this because I was expecting a horror movie... don't like horror...

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    1. Cherry - I put off watching this movie for so look because I thought it would be super scary or bloody horror. It surprised me as it didn't strike me as I had thought it would me.

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