Little Red Riding Hood has become a young, beautiful woman, and is caught in the middle of a dangerous adventure when a werewolf threatens to destroy her village. The screenplay is poor, but young people might still enjoy this film.

Plot
The story of Little Red Riding Hood dates centuries back, and exists in several different version. In this film, a new twist to the tale is presented, clearly inspired by the Twilight franchise. It’s not an ordinary wolf threatening Red Riding Hood this time, it is, in fact, a werewolf.

For 20 years, a truce has existed between the villagers and the wolf. As long as the villagers sacrifice the best domestic animals every full moon, the wolf keeps the peace. But one evening, the truce is broken, leaving the wolf thirsty for human blood. A young woman is killed, and the villagers seek revenge.

The hunt for the wolf fails; still, the villagers summon Father Solomon, who has a personal relationship to the beast, and who, incorporating a mesh of religion, myths and mysticism, tries his best to catch the werewolf.

Caught in the middle of the ongoing events is Red Riding Hood. Valerie is the village’s most beautiful and clever young girl. Two suitors desperately want to marry her – one poor, the other rich. Valerie is in love with one of them, but betrothed to the other. As the wolf turns out to be one of the villagers, tension builds, and it turns out that Valerie is the only one who can approach the wolf. Who can be trusted, if anyone at all?

Quality and Theme
It’s downright annoying that director Catherine Hardwicke constantly uses a ridiculous mesh of mythological elements. It simply strips the story of its credibility. The setting is another matter. The story takes place in a strict medieval society, where the smallest of offenses might lead to capital punishment. Why, then, doesn’t Valerie’s escapades with her loved one (no, not the man she is engaged to) have any repercussions? As well as this, the emotional state of most of the characters is one dimensional – confusion and a thirst for revenge is predominant, but no one seems to grief over their lost ones.

On the other hand, if you accept these faults, the film is entertaining and quite thrilling at times. As well as this, the cinematography is excellent, especially the colours.

Suitability
”Red Riding Hood” has a 12 A rating. Some sequences are quite dramatic; however, not much blood is shown, and the violence is not graphic – except for a scene where a hand gets bit off. Still, we do not recommend that children younger than 12 years of age are allowed to watch this film, as the story is about a huge werewolf on the hunt for human blood.

Conclusion
Even though the quality of the screenplay is poor, ”Red Riding Hood” provides decent entertainment for young people.  

Facts

Director: Catherine Hardwicke Genre: Drama, Thriller Actors: Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Gary Oldman, Lukas Haas, Virginia Madsen, Billy Burke, Michael Shanks, Julie Christie and more Language: English Nationality: Canada/USA Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures Length: 1h 39mins Production Year: 2011 Age Limit: 12A Suitability: Young people BBFC’s Consumer Advice: Contains moderate fantasy violence and horror.
 
Our Assessment: OK

Other reviews:

The Guardian

The Telegraph