Red Riding Hood

Written by Jonathan Jacobs

Red Riding Hood follows the formula of the original fairytale. So, knowing the basic template, and understanding this film is a retelling of an age-old tale, why should moviegoers invest their money in this version of RRH? I will give you one word…nope, two words. Amanda Seyfried. Although shockingly, red is not her color, Seyfried is explosive as Valerie (Red Riding Hood). She is the red meat that makes man and animal salivate alike. Everybody wants her and there is no telling what they will do to possess her. Toss is a love triangle for you “Twihards”, and everybody will walk away happy.

The best part of RRH is the stagecraft. Director Catherine Hardwicke and her team of parlor magicians have constructed a medieval village that is as fascinating in function as it is in its appearance. This medieval community lives near desolate woods. The only light is provided from torchlight. The homes are two story lofts built on wooden foundations. Viewers can effortlessly become lost in the scenery and forget where they are. Valerie’s grandmother lives on the outskirts of the woods in an ominous log cabin. The road to grandmother’s house is perilous indeed.

From her childhood onward, Valerie has been in love with her best friend Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). In real life, Shiloh’s only claim to fame is his resemblance to Taylor Lautner, a fact not lost on the fawning audience. Peter is an orphaned woodcutter. His love for Valerie is unmatched, so much so that despite his inclinations, he offers to forfeit their love so she may marry a wealthier man and live a more stable life. Her mother Suzette (Virginia Madsen) covets a bright and rich future for her daughter, whether Valerie would willingly choose that path or not. After admonishing Peter against marrying her daughter, Suzette and her husband Cesaire (Billy Burke) arrange for her to betroth Henry (Max Irons). Ironically, or perhaps idiotically (take your pick), Max resembles Robert Pattinson. We have ourselves a Twilight film without the vampires and replete with the same ridiculous love triangle that has been done to death. Henry is quite affluent. Valerie’s sister wanted to marry him, but her mother knew that would be incestuous as Henry is the deceased’s half-brother. Instead, through her machinations, Valerie and Henry are scheduled to be married whether they like it or not.

While drama and personal strife impact the main characters, a far more sinister truth must be faced by the entire village. There is a werewolf ready to pounce on the townspeople under the blood moon. Only Valerie is able to communicate with good old canis lupus. The wolf is beautiful and murderous yet it seems to want to collect Valerie to join forces. The young meat between the Jacob and Edward sandwich officially becomes “red riding hood” when her suspicious grandmother (Julie Christie) offers her a wedding gift. Grandmother’s present is a beautiful red cape that undulates in the wind and attracts unwanted attention. The red accoutrement symbolizes bloodletting, lust, and love.

While torn between the affections of two prideful suitors, Valerie’s entire family is threatened by the townspeople’s jealousy and medieval suspicions of witchcraft. In order to vanquish the big, bad wolf, the villagers welcome lycan hunter Solomon (Gary Oldman) as their supreme hunter/protector. Solomon slew his own wife when he discovered the truth of her ability to transmogrify into a beast. He is positively obsessed with expelling the wolf from the village. The maddened hunter is willing to go to any lengths, including torturing and extorting the villagers to achieve this result.

The heart and soul of Red Riding Hood is not the stagecraft, the love triangle, or the metamorphoses alone, it is the suspense that all three of these premises create. Every character from Solomon, to Peter, to Henry, to Grandmother, to Cesaire, to Suzette is a suspect. There are more twists and turns here than a rat faces in a laboratory maze. The suspense never lessens. We neither feel antipathy or sympathy for the beast; we simply wonder who it is. With every passing scene viewers are given new clues to throw off its scent. This contemporary Red Riding Hood truly falls under the category of an “action/adventure” movie. Amanda Seyfried does not look piercingly beautiful, but she is incredibly interesting as RRH. She possesses the indescribable “it” factor. I predict great achievements for her acting career. She may not be a lesbian like Amber Heard, but she is one fine Thespian, that’s for sure! If you want to be transported to a different era where technology and life in general seemed simpler, but no less deadly, choose to journey with RRH this weekend or in a few months on Blu-ray. It is a timeless tale that has been retold with both gusto and pizzazz.