Red Riding Hood - Review

Friends made me watch this on Human Rights Day because I made them watch Tron: Legacy (how is that fair?).

It is a pile of poo. I can only assume that once-promising director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) enjoyed making some money with Twilight, and was eager to repeat her success. She should be eager to get back to her legitimate career.

Red Riding Hood borrows heavily from Twilight to appeal to the pre-teen-but-think-they're-teen girl audience:

• Soulful, life-changing voiceovers - check
• Involuntary attraction to a sensitive bad boy - check
• Forests - check
• Lots of heavy breathing - check
• Pretty girl with family issues torn between two pretty boys - check
• Werewolf - check
• Billy Burke as 'dad' - check
• Terrible romantic dialogue ('I know you feel it too - like you're burning inside...' '...I want to eat you up...') - check

I guess its entertaining enough, and it holds some surprises, but mostly its a good unintentional laugh (and I wasn't the only one in the cinema chuckling). Gary Oldman does his worst work in a while, and the great Julie Christie embarrasses herself for what must be a much-needed paycheck.

It's pretty much a stinker.