UK release: 29th September 2006
Little Red Riding Hood gets a low-grade Shrek makeover in this cheap-looking slice of computer-generated animation. Fitfully clever rather than funny, sluggish when it should be sassy, this uses a Rashomon approach to retell the classic tale from four perspectives.
Kung fu fighting Red (voiced by a strident Anne Hathaway) remains closest to the original characters, while extreme-sports enthusiast Granny (Glenn Close), undercover reporter Big Bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton) and down-on-his-luck Woodsman (James Belushi) wander off the page. A moustached frog named Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) is the Poirot of the piece, trying to unravel the anachronistic puzzle.
Despite the occasional amusing line and non-stop references to other fairy tales, the sameness of each character’s version of events soon becomes tedious, while the bland songs, ranging between hard rock and show tunes, don’t help.
**
UK cinema certificate U
Running time 81mins
Review by Alan Jones
Pocket Films Blog 