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Friday, January 13, 2006
Animated 'Hoodwinked' is tired, lacking personality
A goof on "Little Red Riding Hood" by way of Agatha Christie and "Rashomon," "Hoodwinked" has a cute premise and even cuter characters, but behind the candy colors and nostalgia-laced animation style is a tired tale that never comes to life.
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View all photosThis take on the story begins at the end of the tale and rewinds in a series of police interrogations with the suspects arrested at the scene of the crime. The grilling of spindly-legged frog detective Nicky Flippers (a playfully sophisticated David Ogden Stiers) uncovers a candy and cake conspiracy involving the mysterious "Goodie Bandit."
Meanwhile, between the fairy-tale-meets-pop-culture gags and bland songs, plucky Red (voice of Anne Hathaway), spirited Granny (Glenn Close), streetwise undercover Wolf (a sardonic Patrick Warburton) and dim-bulb Woodsman (James Belushi) all reveal secret lives.
Director Cory Edwards and his computer animation crew have nothing on the "Shrek" team, let alone 3-D animation princes at Pixar. The saucer-eyed kewpie doll Red Riding Hood and similarly rubbery creations are designed to recall the puppet animation of Rankin and Bass TV holiday specials, but they lack any life and character chemistry. The designs are bland, the animation lacks personality and the story isn't half as clever as Edwards thinks it is.
Warburton's delivery can make almost any line funny and Stiers' continental patter is perfect, but "Hoodwinked" suffers from the malady of so many other pop culture goofs: The kooky collision of fairy-tale innocence and contemporary culture references stand in for actual jokes, when what it really calls for is an old-fashioned gag executed with slapstick timing. Passe? Perhaps. But I'll take funny over cute any day.
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