Hoodwinked Too is the sequel to the original Hoodwinked from 2005, which surprised some by its moderate success. In the sequel, Red Riding Hood, The Wolf, and Granny are all part of a special ops team to quote “ensure everyone has a happy ending.”

We pick up in a rescue mission to save Hansel and Gretel from a hungry witch, does it sound familiar? The mission falls apart and results in Granny being kidnapped by the witch. Red Riding Hood and Wolf are left to find Granny, Hansel and Gretel before the witch can force Granny to bake a rare truffle that will grant the witch unlimited powers.

Unlike its predecessor, Hoodwinked Too is too blunt to be charming or clever. The movie packs most of its attempt at humor in long exchanges of dialog that doesn’t even make an attempt to be funny to a child and is so direct and uninspired that most adults won’t even crack a smile. The plot contains absolutely no surprises, for children or adults. Everything about the story was so haphazardly slapped together that most of what happens on screen just forces one to scratch their heads and wonder if there was any effort at all on the part of the writers? What was most awkward about the movie is that there was very little attempt to make the film remotely appealing for children other than the fact that it was animated.
 

The animation in Hoodwinked Too is very pedestrian compared to most feature animated films. Part of that was to adhere to the original’s style, but it also was to keep the budget low. This may not be a problem if the other elements were strong, but under the weight of a weak story and uninspired direction the movie just collapses. To its credit the vocal cast does a good job with what they’re given and the 3D is actually quite good. In fact the 3D effects are much better in this movie than that of the much more expensive animated film Rio.
 

Will the kids like it? The movie will barely hold their attention. I asked my six year old daughter what she thought of the movie while we left the theater and she replied, “It was silly.” My four year old quickly chimed in with, “My favorite part was when the kids got fat.” When I asked them about the movie later that night neither could think of much to say but they quickly redirected the conversation about the birds from Rio that they saw two weeks ago. So for children and adults alike, sadly Hoodwinked Too is at best forgettable.

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Justin Buettner is Style's resident movie dude! How did he get this role? Well, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Arts in film Production and a duel minor in Animation and Business with an emphasis in the entertainment field. He later went on to work on several independent films in various key roles including writer and later worked in the special effects field as a motion capture artist. He has since relocated to the Sacramento area with his family and continues writing for small independent films in addition to his movie reviews for Style Magazine.

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