Twilight has a lot to answer for. Besides the fact that the books are awful and the films aren’t much better, the success of Stephanie Meyer’s vampiric tetralogy almost undoubtedly led to the production of Red Riding Hood. The film is based loosely on the Charles Perrault and Brothers Grimm versions of the classic fairy tale, though it feels unfair to associate such great writers with such a poor film.
Little Red has been transformed into Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman who lives in the hilariously Olde Worlde named village of Daggerhorn. The village has a terrible problem with werewolves, so they summon legendary wolf-busting priest Solomon (Gary Oldman) to help dispatch the pesky lycanthrope. However, the major problem in tracking down the wolf is that literally anyone in the village could be the beast in human form. Director Catherine Hardwicke is so keen that every villager should be seen as a suspect that you half expect a number of scenes to have subtitles like ‘possible suspect...?’ or ‘ooh, suspicious!’. Instead Hardwicke has to settle with very pointed camera shots and incredibly laboured dialogue.
The emotional heart of the film is supposed to be Valerie’s difficult choice between doing what her family wants, by agreeing to her arranged marriage to rich, but dependable blacksmith Jacob Black Henry (Max Irons), or doing what she wants and eloping with moody woodcutter and childhood sweetheart Edward Cullen Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). It does form a heart of sorts, but a heart made of boring wood (probably balsa). Seyfried does her best, and it’s a credit to her abilities that Valerie comes across as wide-eyed and sparky, rather than a bland Bella Swann reboot, but she is a lone glimmer in an otherwise lifeless puddle of disappointing, wooden acting. Even Oscar winner Julie Christie seems to be acting through a layer of heavy sanding and wood polish.
Much of the film really does feel like you’re watching a slightly altered version of Twilight, and so many of Hardwicke’s directorial choices seem only to emphasise these similarities. Even some of the cast are the same: Billy Burke, who plays Bella’s dad, also plays Valerie’s father, and Taylor Lautner was initially touted to play Peter. The soundtrack has a distinctly rock-ish feel, and, though it’s free of contemporary artists such as Muse or Paramore, you could easily imagine it underscoring a tense conversation between Bella and Edward or a vampire vs werewolf scuffle. The cinematography has the familiar Twilight-ish mix of sweeping wide angle shots and jerky close-ups, which is one of the film’s few strengths, as it shows of both the stunning natural surroundings of Daggerhorn, and the pleasing design of the village itself.
Red Riding Hood offered Hardwicke a chance to build on the success of Twilight, but she’s fallen far from the mark, producing a visually pleasing film with no spark, no heart and no humour.
