Red Riding Hood Movie
I knew it was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the same woman who directed Twilight. I knew Rotten Tomatoes gave it 11% at the time. But I have a plethora of movie passes from work, so headlesspuppet and I decided to see it last month. At worst we'd lose a couple of hours.
Long story short: it's bad.
Aesthetically it's pleasing. Splashes of old colors clash against the predominantly gray and white background of the woods and village. But that's the only good thing about this film. The movie doesn't know what it wants to be: horror, romance or mystery. At times I suspect it's even unintentionally comedy.
Too much can be compared to Twilight. Longing looks, switching head shots, cringe worthy dialogue, and "passionate" scenes come straight from Twilight 101. Additional echos of it appear in the girl-loves-boy-she-can't-have-while-being-pressured-to-choose-another-boy theme with supernatural undertones in a soppy, contrived love triangle. The two guys, however, later reluctantly work together to save the girl after uttering predictable and familiar threats to each other about not hesitating the kill the other if he's the wolf. In the end, one must give up on the girl because she obviously loves the other from the start, and though the movie tries to play up the "oh no who will she choose" suspense, there is none. There's no fascination value to the mystery or real emotional connection to the romance.
After a trio of confusing and/or uninteresting trailers -- how can anyone figure out what The Tree of Life is about based on this -- the movie begins with an aerial view of snowy foothills and evergreen forests. I suspected Hardwicke was recycling some of her Twilight footage. From there the camera zooms into a simple thatched roof village plagued by a werewolf "for generations". Then we're treated to an annoying narration by the protagonist, Valerie, describing her childhood and the dangers of the woods and the wolf. But as long as the villagers sacrifice livestock once a month to the wolf, everything is more or less fine, though the people still live in fear of the full moon. Next comes a scene that introduces the child of a woodcutter, Peter. He and Valerie trap and kill a white rabbit which is supposed to show how she's different from other girls, tomboyish, and has a dark side or something. But I was marveling at how a supposedly wild rabbit -- curiously, snowy white in the middle of a forest devoid of snow -- immediately entered the box cage (propped up on a stick) as the two children "hide" about 5 feet away, then sat calmly as child-Valerie lifts the box-cage and scoops it up. With wildlife like that around, everyone must be a master hunter.
Fast forward, and Valerie is the different, lonely, most beautiful in the village. She's also strangely popular and desired by the two most desirable young bachelors around: dark, perpetually brooding, dangerous Edward Peter and wealthy, safe, moping blacksmith Jacob Henry. She also sports a gaggle of shallow secondary character as friends. But her heart belongs to the former, and several minutes are devoted to the pair flirting and flirting and flirting some more in the woods, then talking about running off after it's revealed she is betrothed to *gasp* Henry. They decide on the spot to run away together, no food, clothing or essentials. What a great idea! Fortunately Fate interrupts their stupidity, for the wolf has killed someone: Valerie's sister. The two rush to the scene of the crime. Grief, grieving, fear of the wolf, and angry villagers rallying in the tavern follows.
From a review of the book based on the film:
So, here we have the main character, Valerie. She’s different, special, can hear and see things that others cannot,[...] but she has no less than four close girl friends and the eyes, hearts and loins of the two most desirable young men in town. Henry is the wealthy, desirable son of the blacksmith over whom all the girls in town (apart from Valerie) are seen to be ‘losing it’ (p. 30). Peter could have been drawn straight from the Teen Heartthrob Handbook: ‘a heart-stoppingly handsome, dark-haired young man. He looked wild and haunted, wearing all black, like a horse that could not be tamed.’ (p. 39). But of course, looks aren’t everything: ‘He understood Valerie’s impulses. He understood adventure; he understood not following the rules.’ (p. 7).
Valerie’s friends are as interchangeable as they are forgettable. There’s a prudish one and one who’s defining trait is her décolletage. They exist purely to validate Valerie’s popularity with their jealousy over her betrothal to Henry.
After mistakenly believing they've killed the wolf, the village celebrates. Heavy beat music with a Renaissance tinge plays as the people perform hip grinding harvest dances with a touch of implied Lesbianism. I didn't know farming communities of the middle ages danced like that.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Blah blah blah stuff happens, the wolf isn't dead, the priest/hunter Father Solmon says (paraphrased), "Neener neener I told you so," the wolf "speaks" to Valerie in her head and wants her to leave with him, she wonders if it might be Peter since he wanted her to run away with him, people die, Valerie notices Father Solmon replaced a few of his fingernails with silver, he dies, the wolf turns out to be Valerie's father, he kills her grandmother/his mother who didn't know he or her husband was a wolf but just figured it out, Peter and Valerie fight the wolf, Peter hits it in the back with an axe and Valarie delivers the finishing blow with.... silver fingernails. That's right. Silver fingernails. During his fight with the wolf Father Solmon lost his hand, and Valerie took it with her in her basket before going to warn her grandmother. She shoves the disembodied hand into the wolf's stomach, probably penetrating an inch at most, and he dies. Peter, however, was bitten and is fated to become a wolf, so he leaves the village to learn to control his new ability. There's some weird, pointless scene where Valerie imagines them walking through snowy mountains, her red cape blowing behind her, and the pair having sex in the snow. She stays behind in dead Grandmother's house -- remember she's so different and special she's happier there away from the main village -- and waits for his return, prompting a line I hated from Peter. "I knew you'd say that." Not, "I hoped". Ick. finally the movie ends with another narration by Valarie explaining how Peter stood by her even when she doubted him, as if the audience didn't just watch it themselves; it's a good example of narration/voice over being used badly in a film. After a while, but not too long 'cuz then everyone wouldn't be young and pretty anymore, Peter returns after he's learned to control his homicidal urges while in wolf form, and we assume the two live happily ever after.
The end.
Long story short: it's bad.
Aesthetically it's pleasing. Splashes of old colors clash against the predominantly gray and white background of the woods and village. But that's the only good thing about this film. The movie doesn't know what it wants to be: horror, romance or mystery. At times I suspect it's even unintentionally comedy.
Too much can be compared to Twilight. Longing looks, switching head shots, cringe worthy dialogue, and "passionate" scenes come straight from Twilight 101. Additional echos of it appear in the girl-loves-boy-she-can't-have-while-being-pressured-to-choose-another-boy theme with supernatural undertones in a soppy, contrived love triangle. The two guys, however, later reluctantly work together to save the girl after uttering predictable and familiar threats to each other about not hesitating the kill the other if he's the wolf. In the end, one must give up on the girl because she obviously loves the other from the start, and though the movie tries to play up the "oh no who will she choose" suspense, there is none. There's no fascination value to the mystery or real emotional connection to the romance.
After a trio of confusing and/or uninteresting trailers -- how can anyone figure out what The Tree of Life is about based on this -- the movie begins with an aerial view of snowy foothills and evergreen forests. I suspected Hardwicke was recycling some of her Twilight footage. From there the camera zooms into a simple thatched roof village plagued by a werewolf "for generations". Then we're treated to an annoying narration by the protagonist, Valerie, describing her childhood and the dangers of the woods and the wolf. But as long as the villagers sacrifice livestock once a month to the wolf, everything is more or less fine, though the people still live in fear of the full moon. Next comes a scene that introduces the child of a woodcutter, Peter. He and Valerie trap and kill a white rabbit which is supposed to show how she's different from other girls, tomboyish, and has a dark side or something. But I was marveling at how a supposedly wild rabbit -- curiously, snowy white in the middle of a forest devoid of snow -- immediately entered the box cage (propped up on a stick) as the two children "hide" about 5 feet away, then sat calmly as child-Valerie lifts the box-cage and scoops it up. With wildlife like that around, everyone must be a master hunter.
Fast forward, and Valerie is the different, lonely, most beautiful in the village. She's also strangely popular and desired by the two most desirable young bachelors around: dark, perpetually brooding, dangerous Edward Peter and wealthy, safe, moping blacksmith Jacob Henry. She also sports a gaggle of shallow secondary character as friends. But her heart belongs to the former, and several minutes are devoted to the pair flirting and flirting and flirting some more in the woods, then talking about running off after it's revealed she is betrothed to *gasp* Henry. They decide on the spot to run away together, no food, clothing or essentials. What a great idea! Fortunately Fate interrupts their stupidity, for the wolf has killed someone: Valerie's sister. The two rush to the scene of the crime. Grief, grieving, fear of the wolf, and angry villagers rallying in the tavern follows.
From a review of the book based on the film:
So, here we have the main character, Valerie. She’s different, special, can hear and see things that others cannot,[...] but she has no less than four close girl friends and the eyes, hearts and loins of the two most desirable young men in town. Henry is the wealthy, desirable son of the blacksmith over whom all the girls in town (apart from Valerie) are seen to be ‘losing it’ (p. 30). Peter could have been drawn straight from the Teen Heartthrob Handbook: ‘a heart-stoppingly handsome, dark-haired young man. He looked wild and haunted, wearing all black, like a horse that could not be tamed.’ (p. 39). But of course, looks aren’t everything: ‘He understood Valerie’s impulses. He understood adventure; he understood not following the rules.’ (p. 7).
Valerie’s friends are as interchangeable as they are forgettable. There’s a prudish one and one who’s defining trait is her décolletage. They exist purely to validate Valerie’s popularity with their jealousy over her betrothal to Henry.
After mistakenly believing they've killed the wolf, the village celebrates. Heavy beat music with a Renaissance tinge plays as the people perform hip grinding harvest dances with a touch of implied Lesbianism. I didn't know farming communities of the middle ages danced like that.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Blah blah blah stuff happens, the wolf isn't dead, the priest/hunter Father Solmon says (paraphrased), "Neener neener I told you so," the wolf "speaks" to Valerie in her head and wants her to leave with him, she wonders if it might be Peter since he wanted her to run away with him, people die, Valerie notices Father Solmon replaced a few of his fingernails with silver, he dies, the wolf turns out to be Valerie's father, he kills her grandmother/his mother who didn't know he or her husband was a wolf but just figured it out, Peter and Valerie fight the wolf, Peter hits it in the back with an axe and Valarie delivers the finishing blow with.... silver fingernails. That's right. Silver fingernails. During his fight with the wolf Father Solmon lost his hand, and Valerie took it with her in her basket before going to warn her grandmother. She shoves the disembodied hand into the wolf's stomach, probably penetrating an inch at most, and he dies. Peter, however, was bitten and is fated to become a wolf, so he leaves the village to learn to control his new ability. There's some weird, pointless scene where Valerie imagines them walking through snowy mountains, her red cape blowing behind her, and the pair having sex in the snow. She stays behind in dead Grandmother's house -- remember she's so different and special she's happier there away from the main village -- and waits for his return, prompting a line I hated from Peter. "I knew you'd say that." Not, "I hoped". Ick. finally the movie ends with another narration by Valarie explaining how Peter stood by her even when she doubted him, as if the audience didn't just watch it themselves; it's a good example of narration/voice over being used badly in a film. After a while, but not too long 'cuz then everyone wouldn't be young and pretty anymore, Peter returns after he's learned to control his homicidal urges while in wolf form, and we assume the two live happily ever after.
The end.