*013: 'Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?'
Red Riding Hood
Rating:
Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
I loved the original story of 'Little Red Riding Hood by the Brothers Grimm. Their stories were the reason I became a writer. I loved Cinderella, Snow White and Frog Prince as a child. They are stories that were part of my childhood. I admit that now I am a bigger fan of Hans Christian Andersen, but I still love them. That is why I was attracted to watching the trailer. I immediately disliked the trailer, but I had another reason for watching it.
Amanda Seyfried.
She is a consistently good actress. Mean Girls, Mama Mia, Letters to Juliet and Dear John. And from what I saw in the trailer, she is eye-candy and beautiful in every frame. From just the trailer, I had an idea of what it was going to be--- but I decided to give it a chance. I never liked the 'Twilight' series but I thought it might be different because Amanda Seyfried was on board.
The story begins with a beautiful, kind young woman named, Valerie (Amanda Seyfried). She was engaged to be married to a blacksmith's son, Henry (Max Irons) but in love with a woodcutter and childhood friend, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). The little town lived in fear of a --- wolf. For many years, it left the town alone as long as they offered animal sacrifices to it. However, it changed one bloody red moon night--- Valerie's sister, Lucy was killed. The townsfolk began screaming for blood and decided to gather together to kill it. During the fight with what they thought had been the wolf, Henry's father was killed. It was--- they called, a 'worthy sacrifice.' They believed that they killed the wolf and that they could now celebrate.
A hunter named, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), arrived in town telling people that they did not know what they were up against. They were up against a werewolf, and what they had just killed--- was a mere ordinary wolf. The people refused to listen and continued with their celebration. That night, while some danced and some had--- 'fun'--- they were attacked by the werewolf. It was here that Valerie discovered that she could talk to werewolves and that the werewolf wanted her. Her friend, who was with her when she spoke to the wolf betrayed her to Father Solomon wanting to free her autistic brother. People immediately thought that it was because of her beauty and that she was a witch. When she was about to be sacrificed, a girl told her that she was glad she was going to die because she hater her because Valerie was too unbelievably perfect.
Her two heroes, Henry and Peter rescued her and vowed to give their lives. Peter was caught by Father Solomon and shoved inside a metal elephant. The next morning, Peter broke out of it and was missing. Valerie decided to go see her grandmother after a dream made her wonder if she was the werewolf. She took Father Solomon's hand and hid it in her basket. The werewolf had bitten it off from its owner. Because of the bite, Father Solomon had been executed. One bite can turn you into a werewolf.
Valerie thought that it might be up to her to save the town. On her way to her grandmother's, she meets Peter. She became suspicious when he began hiding his injured hand. The werewolf had burned its hand the night before. She slashed him to escape to her grandmother's. There, she hears her grandmother from behind the beads. She coaxed her into eating from the pot on on the fireplace. When the person behind the beads revealed itself, it was her father.
He had killed her grandmother because she discovered that he was the werewolf. That was not all he revealed. He had killed Lucy because she was not his daughter. He discovered that because she could not understand him when he lured her out at a red moon night by signing it under Henry's name. He killed her out of rage, but now he could pass on his gift to her. Valerie did not want it, but just as her father was about to bite her Peter came and rescued her again. Unfortunately, he got bitten in the process.
Valerie used Father Solomon's hand and stabbed her father with it. Valerie and Peter later sank his body under an icy body of water after cutting it open and filling it with rocks. If it were discovered Valerie was the daughter of the werewolf, she would be killed.
Peter decided to leave. He was afraid that he would not be able to control himself as a werewolf. Valerie promised to wait for him. The movie closed with Valerie living in her grandmother's house and was reunited with Peter, who was now a werewolf.
What can I say?
I think the movie is horrible but Amanda Seyfried looked beautiful and she really saved the movie. Every screenshot, she looked beautiful. If I had a camera I would click away. My problem is her character. Valerie is like character out of a 'Marie-Sue' story made by a teenager. She is beautiful, loved by the guys and envied by all the girls. She has no real flaws--- unless you call being envied by the girls a flaw or being a daughter of a werewolf. The feeling I got from Peter is not a man in love--- but a guy that wants to get into her pants skirts. Henry was just uninspiring. Come to think of it, Peter is a little uninspiring too. Maybe it is because his acting and emotions do not feel real. Gary Oldman did alright. He is a pretty good actor, but his script was pretty bad. The story feels like a fanfiction, even the twist in the end could't really save the movie.
It is a movie made to tease hormonal teenage girls' fantasies. It reminds me of Twilight. It shouldn't surprise me because it is by the same director. It has the theme of 'Forbidden Love.' I am not a big fan of Twilight, but I saw the first movie. It is easy to see the similarities.
There goes my childhood.