Culture

Directed by Mike Disa, (2/5).

When a movie screens at 4pm every day during the week with no alternative, it’s a fairly safe bet that the average age of the target market is somewhere between 7 and 14. Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil fits this model perfectly. It had everything a modern animated fairytale requires: witches, explosions, an unlikely heroine, toilet humor, a side-story following a disconnected, often small, random animal and numerous references to every traditional fairy tale under the sun.
 
The sequel to Hoodwinked opens with Red honing her happy-ending, developing fighting skills with the Sisters of the Hood. The sisterhood, with a master who is a cross between Whoopi Goldberg and Yoda, its ninja-granny inspired statues and interesting fighting techniques involving kitchen implements, is one of the highlights of the film. Red’s training is cut short after she is contacted by Nicky Flipper, an extraordinarily lanky and well-dressed frog and the head of HEA (Happily Ever After); think the CIA, fairy tale style. A wicked witch has abducted two innocent children as well as Granny, an HEA agent, and Red’s help is required. Red reunites with Wolf to undertake the rescue mission and ensure a happy ending.
 
The film does well at incorporating in unique ways characters and locations from all the traditional, and some not so traditional, tales. The three little pigs make an appearance, complete with their typical idiocy, gas masks and a bazooka. The giant and his beanstalk come to the party as casino-running gangsters and the witches’ lair shares a striking similarity with Sauron’s tower.
 
However, as is typical with sequels, the film did not quite live up to its predecessor. The humor was a bit forced, with a pun a minute replacing the wit of the first film. Apart from the central twist, the story was a bit lacklustre, focusing a bit too heavily on Red’s inner turmoil, Red and Wolf’s stormy friendship, and a social commentary on child obesity, instead of developing a good solid mystery. If you need a film to take your little cousin to, then Hoodwinked Too will be sure to entertain you both for an hour, but otherwise wait for the DVD and a hangover.