The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 234 Days to go: 239
Movie #143: Hoodwinked
I really like fairy tales. I used to have this gorgeous tome of Grimm’s Fairy Tales when I was a little girl — it was easily four inches thick — with gold-leafed pages and intricate illustrations, but then I think my mother passed it on to my brother who never, ever, ever would’ve appreciated such a thing. On top of that, my absolute favorite book as a girl was The Practical Princess and Other Liberating Fairy Tales by Jay Williams, which no one has ever heard of (unless they know me personally, because I talk about it all the time). And every single year, until I was probably seven years old (after my mother had remarried and we moved to a new town), I was Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween. (My mom was always the grandmother, and when my dad was still in the picture he would be the Big Bad Wolf — which, let’s not unpack the fact that my first husband was a big bad Wolf of his own.)
So, Hoodwinked might as well have been made for me especially.
Hoodwinked was not the first film to tackle fairy tales, of course — you’ve heard of Disney, I assume? — nor was it the first to tackle skewered fairy tales. But where films like Shrek tend to fail for me, Hoodwinked really soars. Shrek is not so much about skewering fairy tales in and of themselves, it’s about skewering Disney. It’s funny, and clever in its way, but as someone who unapologetically loves Disney (Disney World, especially, but Disney animated features as well), it feels a bit mean-spirited and therefore falls kind of flat. Hoodwinked, on the other hand, is concerned only with the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” and with telling that story in a new and clever way that features less grisly death and more extreme sports.
In this version of events, neither Red (Anne Hathaway) nor Granny (Glenn Close) are helpless lady folk, and the Wolf (Patrick Warburton) is an investigative journalist instead of an evil predator. Even the Woodsman (Jim Belushi) is just an actor auditioning to be a woodsman. But the huge uproar at Granny’s house when all these characters converge brings about a police investigation, and each character is given the chance to tell her or his version of events. To no one’s surprise, nothing is quite what it seems.
The movie is filled with all sorts of lovely little jokes and visual gags on top of a mystery wherein all things lead (as all things inevitably should) to a cute little bunny named Boingo voiced by Andy Dick. (Though my favorite part is a goat who uses his horns as a rocking chair and sometimes propellers.)
Hoodwinked is wry and cute and features an old lady kicking ass. Grandmas are doing it for themselves! (It’s even great for kids.)
Viable Option 