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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am
Posts: 34865
Location: Maryland
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 Re: Red Riding Hood The critical response to director Catherine Hardwicke's (Lords of Dogtown, Twilight) version of Red Riding Hood has been downright vitriolic, and I understand why this film, in its content and presentation, would inspire such disdain. Hardwicke has turned the fairy tale recorded and popularized by, among others, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm into an overheated, voguish young-adult love story and werewolf thriller. In other words, it's The Twilight Saga: Red Riding Hood. But I have a confession: I loved it. Not in a traditional, guiltless, this-film-is-award-worthy sense, of course, but rather as a popcorn-movie confection.
The film, co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, is set in the medieval hamlet of Daggerhorn. In this version, Red is a beautiful girl named Valerie, played by Amanda Seyfried. She is, of course, torn between two attractive, adoring men: Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), a brooding woodcutter and her childhood sweetheart, and Henry (Max Irons, Jeremy's son), the wealthy lad Valerie's parents (Billy Burke and Virginia Madsen) expect her to wed, an arranged marriage she dreads. As this passionate love triangle reaches fever pitch, Valerie's sister is found dead, a victim of the werewolf living in the forest beyond Daggerhorn, obliterating a long-standing truce. With the townspeople furious and terrified, a local priest (Lukas Haas) sends word to Solomon (Gary Oldman), a Catholic werewolf hunter with violent methods.
If the disparate directorial instincts of Michael Bay and Sofia Coppola were blended, the result might be Catherine Hardwicke or close to her. She has the latter's feminine touch and deep understanding of youthful melancholy and longing, but the former's studio-friendly, over-the-top approach. And since her relatively unrefined directorial debut, Thirteen, she has developed a sharp visual eye. I dare even Red Riding Hood's most ardent detractors not to admire the sumptuous aerial shots of Valerie, dressed in bright red, moving across snow-covered landscapes. I also loved production designer Tom Sanders' (Saving Private Ryan) sets, from the claustrophic rooms of the village to the wilds of the enchanted forest. None of the sets are realistic, nor are they intended to be, but they are delightful in their stylized, atmospheric artificiality. And while the computer-generated werewolf never flirts with photo-realism, the design is neat and satisfactory. And outside of classic Universal monster movies, I prefer "realistic" werewolf designs, i.e. closer to a real wolf than a wolfman.
The best aspect of David Leslie Johnson's (Orphan) screenplay is the mystery of the wolf. It's a proper whodunit, and Johnson drops tantalizing clues and cute, corny red herrings throughout. Brian Reitzell (music supervisor on The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and Marie Antoinette) and Alex Heffes (The Last King of Scotland) provide a tense electronic score, which gives the film a modern edge.
The delicious, overripe love triangle is brought to life by three gifted young talents. This is a good role for Seyfried, with her ethereal beauty and big, striking eyes (I almost went for the "my, what big eyes she has" line, but I didn't, you're welcome). She just seems at home in this role, flitting through the woods toward grandma's house and shooting lustful glances in her suitors' directions. Of the two Robert Pattinson-esque upstarts, I preferred Irons' regal boyishness to Fernandez's snarling, sneering sexuality, though both are appealing. The adult cast is perhaps better than you would expect considering the material. There's screen legend Julie Christie, subtly witchy as Valerie's tough grandmother, and there's Gary Oldman! It's clear the Sid & Nancy/Dark Knight screen icon is having a ball, devouring the scenery in a purple robe. Is he better than this? Yes, more or less, but his wickedly playful performance elevates the film. His dramatic entrance, a long scene in which he, voice booming, explains his first encounter with a werewolf, is a definite highlight of the film. And I haven't even mentioned his character's preferred torture device--a cage inside a metal elephant over a raging fire. Yep.
The best, most electrifying scene in Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood centers on a wild, almost pagan party, set to a fierce original song, "The Wolf," by Fever Ray, interrupted by the werewolf's first major appearance. In this sequence, every soapy element, from the performances to the cinematography to the sound design and visual effects, come together just right, and it's a show-stopper.
I saw this film the same day as Battle: Los Angeles, and Red Riding Hood impressed me far more as far as mindless entertainment goes. Save the Transformers-style bombast and nonstop action in this case, and give me a slice of sexy-and-spooky melodrama. Is it smart? Not very. Is it an instant classic? Far from it. Is it fun? In my opinion, yes. Fuck it, it's a blast.
B+
_________________   1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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