BEFORE: I'm already getting tired of mindless kiddie movies - I hope they start to get a little more clever before my brain turns to mush. I can feel it going...and I've got another week's worth of animated films left.
Several connections from "Winnie the Pooh" are probably possible, but the easiest to make is to point out that John Cleese was also in "Yellowbeard" with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, who both voice characters in tonight's film.
THE PLOT: Red Riding Hood is training in the group of Sister Hoods, when she and the Wolf are called to examine the sudden mysterious disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "Tangled" (Movie #1,034), "Puss in Boots" (Movie #1,031)
AFTER: Hmm, I could have sworn that "Hoodwinked" was somewhere in my countdown, but apparently not. Sad that the project has reached a stage where I'm no longer sure what I've covered and what I haven't. I must have watched this film's predecessor sometime prior to 2009, but I know I've seen it.
The first "Hoodwinked!" film riffed off of the Red Riding Hood story, but told the story in the style of a modern police procedural. As each character (Red, Granny, the Big Bad Wolf) told their side of the story, new information came to light, adding a new twist to the story, and changing all that had come before.
They dispensed with that format for the sequel in favor of a more linear narrative, but unfortunately it strays much too far from the original fairy tale. I guess they've done the whole "bring a basket of goodies to Grandma's house" already, so they shouldn't repeat themselves, but this is way off the reservation, mixing in a post-modern riff on the Hansel & Gretel story, with a couple of major twists.
You can kind of see the reasoning, it's so transparent - Dreamworks made a gajillion dollars with the "Shrek" franchise, so why not mash up a bunch of fairy tales in a similar fashion, add some riffs on modern pop culture and some jokes for the parents, and try to get some of that sweet coin? They even riffed on some of the same stories as the "Shrek" spin-off "Puss in Boots", which also featured Hansel & Gretel and the characters from Jack & the Beanstalk.
The most ridiculous elements of this film include a baked "goodie" that can make its eater powerful and indestructible, whose recipe is protected by the Sisters of the Hood, which is an organization of women who are both baking experts and extreme ninja-like fighters. It's a long way to go for a few plot points.
NITPICK POINT: Although the recipe is intentionally missing one secret ingredient, somehow a character who has never tasted the finished product before is able to determine what is missing. This should be impossible, even in a fairy tale. Even more unlikely, the people who did not know what the secret ingredient was somehow had the foresight to stock it in their pantry. How did that happen?
Also starring the voices of Hayden Panettiere (last heard in "A Bug's Life"), Glenn Close (last seen in "The Big Chill"), Patrick Warburton (last heard in "Bee Movie"), Joan Cusack (last heard in "Mars Needs Moms"), Bill Hader (last seen in "Paul"), Amy Poehler (last seen in "Baby Mama"), David Ogden Stiers, with cameos from Martin Short (last seen in "Father of the Bride Part II"), Brad Garrett (last heard in "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"), Andy Dick (last seen in "Permanent Midnight"), David Allan Grier and Wayne Newton.
RATING: 4 out of 10 fake beards
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