When I saw the trailer for Red Riding Hood, I must reluctantly admit that I was somewhat excited to see this very different and seemingly interesting take on the very famous,classic and beloved fairy tale. Yes reluctantly, since it was evident that it was built around the quintessential storyline of dull/boring boy wants girl, girl doesn't want boy ,girl's family has arranged marriage to boy, girls wants the more interesting and exciting boy. Given all that, I felt redeemed with Amanda Seyfried in the starring role and the idea of who done it. Seyfried has emerged as one of the better actresses of her generation and I have admired her body of work especially in the HBO polygamist hit, Big Love. All the excitement and eagerness could not compensate for a very flat storyline, lifeless and robotic performances from the two leading men who is caught between. Seyfried's performance is also flat and rather subdued in what appears to be a very twilight-esque,( which isn't a surprise as Catherine Hardwicke of Twilight fame also directs this project), take on this classic story.
Valerie (Seyfried) is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (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 (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. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486185/)
Valerie (Seyfried) is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (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 (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. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486185/)
What's Good about the movie:
Hmmmm, this took some serious thinking and pondering but there isn't really much that emerges that can be viewed in a positive light from this film. The cinematography was commendable with stunning views of snow capped mountains and the sunlight glistening through the forests. It is a very sad commentary on a film when the Cinematography is one of the few things that is worth mentioning.
Gary Oldam delivers delivers a fairly good performance (though over the top at times) as Father Solomon ,famed werewolf hunter summoned to Daggerhorn to kill the beast. However not even an actor of Oldman's calibre could deliver a performance strong enough to salvage this movie.
What's Bad about the movie:
Hmmmm where to even begin?
The performances of the two male suitors who are vying for Valerie's affection Max Iron as Henry and Shiloh Fernandez as Peter was abysmal to say the least. It was very painful getting through the scenes where these two appeared not only were their performances lifeless and robotic, it felt as if they were merely reciting their lines-they were simply not connected to the characters they played.
The lack of connectivity throughout the whole film between the actors was very glaring, as each seemed to be reciting his or her own lines and there was no sense of true cohesion in the exchanges between the cast.
The ''who done it/who is it'' premise of the film was not properly developed and when it was time for the big reveal it was very anti-climatic and the supposed big reveal left us feeling a bit eerie and weird.
Overall Grade: D, If you haven't seen this movie yet, no need to rush.You might as well wait for its cable release.
No comments:
Post a Comment