Hoodwinked 720p - (2005 Lang: English)

Great on a Curve!

Hoodwinked is an ultra low budget affair compared to the average 3D CGI-animated film (it was shot for a reported 15 million vs 70 to 90 million for films like Finding Nemo or Shrek 2). If you want a fairer comparison in terms of animation quality, you'd have to look at something like Jimmy Neutron (30 million budget).

What really made the animation work in terms of style is...the style. Hoodwinked almost looks like a revved up Rankin-Bass stop motion animated film in the vein of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Once you get absorbed in the world of Hoodwinked, you stop comparing it to Pixar and simply enjoy the magic little world the creators obviously put so much care into creating.

And the film is indeed absorbing! It starts a little slow, but once the story picks up steam, it is non-stop fun. It's clear that the writers weren't going to let a lower budget stop them from writing a clever and often laugh-out-loud funny script. My kids, aged 12, 8, and 3, giggled throughout the film. Your kids will LOVE the squirrel, the granny, and the singing goat, and adults will pick up more culture references in terms of homage scenes (not in adult content) to pictures like Fletch, Kill Bill, and the Matrix.

One thing comes across very clearly in Hoodwinked--love of the craft. So many seemingly throw away gags end up being very important to the story later on. Enjoy this little gem of an "indie" animated film, and imagine what these young guys could do with a bigger budget next time around!

Hoodwinked! (alternatively styled Hoodwinked) is a 2005 American computer-animated family comedy film. It retells the folktale Little Red Riding Hood as a police investigation, using flashbacks to show multiple characters' points of view. It was produced independently by Blue Yonder Films with Kanbar Entertainment, directed and written by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, and produced by Katie Hooten, Maurice Kanbar, David K. Lovegren, Sue Bea Montgomery, and Preston Stutzman. The film was released by The Weinstein Company in Los Angeles, California, on December 16, 2005 for a one-week engagement before expanding nationwide on January 13, 2006. The cast features Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Anthony Anderson, David Ogden Stiers, Xzibit, Chazz Palminteri and Andy Dick.

Hoodwinked! was among the earliest computer-animated films to be completely independently funded. Working apart from a major studio allowed the filmmakers greater creative control, but also restrained them economically. Due to the film's small budget, its animation was produced in the Philippines, with a less realistic design inspired by stop motion films. The Weinstein Company did not sign on as the film's distributor until near the end of production, and while the company had many roles recast, it otherwise made few changes to the film.

Structurally, the film was inspired by non-linear crime dramas, such as Rashomon and Pulp Fiction. It was released shortly after the first two installments in the successful Shrek series, which accentuated the fairy tale parody genre of which it is a part. The film however, intentionally deviated from that series in its style of humor and in certain plot elements. This was in part based on Cory Edwards' concerns over exposing children to the high level of cynicism often found in the genre.

Critical reception to the film was varied; although its script and cast were praised by many reviews, its animation quality was heavily criticized. The film was a commercial success, earning over thirteen times its less than-$8 million budget. A sequel, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, directed by Mike Disa, and written by the Edwards brothers and Leech, was released in 2011 to negative reviews and financial failure.

Little Red Riding Hood discovers that the Big Bad Wolf has disguised himself as Granny. Red's grandma jumps out of the closet tied up just as the axe-wielding woodsman bursts through the window, startling everyone. The police quickly arrive, and Red, Wolf, Granny, and the Woodsman are questioned by Detective Nicky Flippers about the events leading up to the incident.

Red explains that she was delivering goodies for her grandmother when she discovered a threat from the mysterious Goodie Bandit. Hoping to save her Granny's recipes, she embarked upon a journey to take them to the top of a nearby mountain where her Granny lives. On her way, she encountered the Wolf, who asked her a series of suspicious questions. She managed to escape and eventually reached her Granny's house; however, she found the Wolf already waiting in ambush.

What at first seems to be an open-and-shut case becomes confused though, once it is learned that the Wolf is an investigative reporter. He reveals that he was searching for a lead on the identity of the Goody Bandit and had reason to believe that Red and Granny were the culprits. Locating Red, he questioned her, hoping to get to the bottom of the mystery. When Red escaped, he headed for her Granny's house and arriving first, went undercover, hoping to trick her into giving him the evidence he needed.

When questioned, the Woodsman (whose name is Kirk) reveals that he is in fact an aspiring actor who was only trying out for the part of a woodsman in a commercial. After his schnitzel truck was robbed by the Goody Bandit, he went out into the woods to get in character for his role and spent the rest of the day chopping trees. A large tree rolled after him and pushed him through the window of Granny's home. The investigation then turns to Granny, who reveals that, unbeknownst to her family, she is an extreme sports enthusiast. During a ski race earlier that day, she was attacked by the opposing team, but got away safely after learning that they were hired by the Goody Bandit.

Despondent over her Granny's lack of honesty, Red wanders off alone. Meanwhile, Nicky Flippers realizes that the one commonality between all four stories was a bunny named Boingo and concludes that he is the Goody Bandit. However, Boingo has already sneaked into the home and stolen Granny's recipes. Red sees Boingo and follows him to his hideout at a cable car station, but the police pursue him in the wrong direction. Granny, the Wolf, and Kirk manage to locate Boingo as he is explaining his evil scheme to Red. Boingo plans to add an addictive substance to the stolen recipes and then explode the forest, making way for new real estate for expanding his business.

The Wolf and Kirk go undercover to distract Boingo as Granny sneaks into his lair, but open conflict ensues. Boingo sends a bound and gagged Red down the mountain in a cable car loaded with explosives and Granny goes after her, with Boingo and his henchmen in pursuit. Red manages to free herself, and escapes with Granny, while the police, who have been located by the Wolf's assistant Twitchy, are waiting at the bottom of the mountain to arrest Boingo and his henchmen. Some time later, Kirk finds success as part of a yodeling troupe, and Red, Granny, the Wolf, and Twitchy are enlisted by Nicky Flippers to join a crime solving organization called Happily Ever After Agency.

I'll confess something up front which seems to be place me in the minority--I didn't go to see this movie hoping for great animation, a break-through in story-telling, or the chance to see self-proclaimed "artists" waxing philosophic about their personal world views. I went to have fun and enjoy myself.

On that score, Hoodwinked fully delivers. A brief glance at any trailer will tell you the animation is not the greatest, and I know some people have taken that to mean the movie itself is not worth seeing. However, that assessment is just wrong. I walked into the theater not really knowing what to expect, and spent the next hour and however long basically laughing the entire time--sometimes so hard I had to make myself stop to catch my breath. It's a really funny movie, and when it comes down to it, isn't that the point of a movie like this?

Hoodwinked basically tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but as seen through the eyes of several different characters. Not an original plot, by any means, but once you get into the story the quirkiness and eccentricities of the characters wrap you up so much you don't care.

Bottom line: If you want to have fun and see a good movie, check out Hoodwinked. If you want cutting edge technicality that may or may not reflect on the actual quality of the story and writing, go look elsewhere.