Red Riding Hood (2011) (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Catherine Hardwicke
STARRING: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke
RATED: PG-13/Region: A/2:40/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1
AVAILABLE FROM Warner Bros.
Ah yes, Red Riding Hood (2011). The movie that asked the bold question: “What if a fairy tale… but make it moody, horny, and aggressively 2011?”
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (fresh off shaping teen supernatural angst into a billion-dollar empire), this version of the classic tale stars Amanda Seyfried as Valerie, a young woman torn between two brooding men, a suspiciously dramatic village, and a werewolf who apparently has excellent timing.
Let’s start with the obvious: this movie is stunning. The snowy forests, the gothic village, the aggressively stylish red cloak billowing in slow motion — it all looks like a Hot Topic catalog collided with a perfume commercial. The production design is committed. The vibe is committed. The wind machine is very committed.
And honestly? Respect.
But then there’s the script. The dialogue often feels like it was written by someone who once overheard a teenager say “whatever” and thought, “Yes. That. But medieval.” The love triangle is less “epic romantic struggle” and more “choose your preferred emotionally unavailable lumberjack.” Max Irons and Shiloh Fernandez do their best, but the chemistry sometimes feels like it’s buffering.
The werewolf itself is… a choice. The CGI hasn’t aged particularly well, and there are moments where it looks less like an ancient forest terror and more like it wandered in from a slightly expensive SyFy Channel premiere. Still, the film commits so hard to its dramatic self-seriousness that you kind of have to admire the audacity.
And then there’s Gary Oldman, who shows up like he’s in a completely different (and much louder) movie. He chews the scenery, spits it out, sets it on fire, and demands to know who the wolf is with the intensity of a man who absolutely knows he’s in the best position to have fun. Frankly, he’s a gift.
Is Red Riding Hood good? That depends on your tolerance for slow-motion longing, dramatic stares, and dialogue that occasionally feels like it was carved into a tree with a butter knife. It’s messy. It’s melodramatic. It takes itself very seriously.
But it’s also oddly watchable.
There’s a campy, gothic soap-opera energy to it that makes it hard to completely dismiss. It’s a time capsule of that early-2010s era when every studio desperately wanted their own brooding supernatural franchise. It may not have launched one, but it sure tried — in a very pretty cloak.
In the end, Red Riding Hood isn’t a howling success… but it’s also not the disaster some claim. It’s an overwrought, visually lush fairy tale remix that’s more fun if you lean into the drama instead of fighting it.
Just don’t expect subtlety. The wolf certainly didn’t.
Extras
- Additional Scenes
