Katie was excited to get an invite to the premiere of Hoodwinked last weekend. But she wasn't expecting to carry with her a big bad wolf of a hangover...
What do you get when you cross Little Red Riding Hood, a Big Bad Wolf, a granny wit
h big hair and a handful of ex-Big Brother housemates? Complete and utter mayhem would be an accurate guess... throw a crowd of excitable children and a movie theatre into the mix and you've got a movie premiere.
Instead of gowns, the guests of honour wore fairy wings and glitter-encrusted pumps, apple juice replaced champagne and the noise level in Leicester Square's VUE cinema went up a few hundred decibels. “But muuuuum, I want popcorn!”. After a big night out, this was the epitome of headache central... luckily, the animated movie in question, 'Hoodwinked' packed enough kiddie punches to keep the rabble quiet. Let's face it - that's exactly what the mums and dads of the world want.
For the childless, Hoodwinked may not be on the top of your 'must see before I hit the grave' list, but if you have a slightly oddball sense of humour this film may be for you. I'd never really wondered what my favourite fairytale characters would look like when up to their eyeballs on crack. On Sunday, I found out.
Unlike your usual Simbas, Little Mermaids and Aladdins the characters in Hoodwinked are not particularly cute. Sure, they've got the big eyes, goofy expressions and lovely little noses... but these wood dwellers have an attitude to boot. The story is set in the aftermath of the Little Red Riding Hood story. The forest police critters are sent to investigate a disturbance at Granny's house (did I mention she’s a wrinkly adrenaline junkie?). The mystery that follows takes us on four different journeys. Granny (Glenn Close), the Big Bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton), the Woodsman (Jim Belushi) and Red (Anne Hathaway) all describe their movements on the day of the ‘crime’.
I found the storyline hard to follow - sure, it may have been the hangover but it didn't seem to faze the youngsters around me. They whooped, cheered and hung on to every scene... eyeballs wide in awe. Through my own drooping eyelids, I managed to catch the general drift. The 'camera work' is fast paced and action packed and the hyperactive squirrel scenes are a stroke of cinematic genius.
Creators Cory and Todd Edwards, take CGI animation to the next level. They also throw in a good old dose pop culture references and jokes for the oldies in the audience.
If you've got kids, go. If you don't... give it a try - just leave your hangover at home.
By Katie Spain
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