Scene it Sunday #13 - Red Riding Hood Movie Review

Red Riding Hood
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Release Date: March 11, 2011
Leads: Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons

Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.

It would not be a stretch at all to say that this story was much better suited as a movie than a book. Where the book added nothing new to this screenplay, the movie had better interactions and a more vivid storytelling. (Obviously, as it is visual compared to a book.)

I thought that the character portrayals were spot on, and that Amanda Seyfried did a good job as Valerie - she was less "I don't know" than the Valerie in the book - which was actually a good change. Because I really didn't care for the cluelessness of Valerie in the book, but Amanda portrayed her as more of an innocent clueless than a stupid clueless, which was a great thing.

Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons both did well in their parts, though I have to say that I prefer Shiloh, because he did an awesome job at playing the outcast. And he can say "I'll eat you up" with a completely straight face. (Needless to say, no one can watch that and keep a straight face.)

I really liked the atmosphere of the movie - all of the dark, twisty gothic-y stuff really looked very cool, especially with the hint of the "dark ages" going on. It was really neat.

All in all, Red Riding Hood was an interesting enough movie, but I guess it's just not one for the favorites shelf.