Red Riding Hood 2011

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Red Riding Hood does trot out the classic what-big-eyes-you-have routine. It's a pretty amusing moment, and it makes you wish the rest of the film had that same sort of knowing sense of humor. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: Not nearly suspenseful enough to pass as a horror film, Red Riding Hood is an awkward supernatural whodunit weighed down by banal dialogue more suited to a teen soap and Hardwicke's clumsy direction. Read more

Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies: Acting's awful, storyline's messy and unengaging, and there's not a trace of authentic passion anywhere in the movie's picture-pretty production design. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: But, my, what sharp teeth Ms. Hardwicke doesn't have. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: For a while the joke seems intentional. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A movie that has little reason to exist, other than as a showcase for Seyfried's uncannily beautiful face, framed prettily in red, and as the latest in a line of fairy tales on the big screen. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: While the Twilight films strive for straight-faced grimness, Red Riding Hood often verges on outright florid hilarity. It isn't laughing at itself, but that needn't stop the audience. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: If, by chance, you've missed "Twilight" and its sequels, don't worry. Shiny, moody, moon-faced and dumb, "Red Riding Hood" pretty much replicates the experience entirely. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A laughably inept series of adolescent poses trying to pass itself off as a movie. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Like an idiot, I came to this movie hoping that director Catherine Hardwicke might engage in a feminist interrogation of the old fairy tale. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Overheated yet underpowered. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Red Riding Hood is just another movie about a girl pining for a boy, defined by a boy, held back by a boy. And that's not pretty. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Just when you think you've finished with one of these annoying franchises, another one pops up to plague you. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Red Riding Hood is pretty decent, considering it's, you know, Red Riding Hood. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The result is a dolled-up, overblown, pandering romantic costume drama that's not only sillier than the filmmakers surely intended but also, if you follow the plot implications all the way to the end, way ickier, too. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: Hardwicke directed Twilight, you'll recall, and would apparently like to continue directing it, over and over again. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Adamantly refuses to provide any wit, humor or fun, concerning itself mostly with the heroine's taxing dilemma of picking between the rural village's two best looking boys. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Gorgeously shot, smartly conceived, cleverly cast, badly executed -- the lush medieval beauty here is at best only skin deep. Read more

Karina Longworth, L.A. Weekly: Directed by Twilight franchise launcher Catherine Hardwicke and shot on clunky-looking sets embellished with garish digital effects, Red Riding Hood is a cheap attempt to cash in on that vampire series' massive success. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: According to legend, a silver bullet can kill a werewolf. Too bad it can't slay bad writing, without which the ill-conceived Red Riding Hood would not exist. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: More "Twilight" than Grimm, and a terrible mess. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: If you're a Twilight fan, you may feel as though you've already seen this. And if you're not, well, why would you be interested in something like this at all? Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Hardwicke, whose first "Twilight" film looks like "Citizen Kane" with fangs compared to this, takes things sooo seriously, which translates as buffoonery. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: [Hardwicke] has a gift for taking situations of bloodcurdling thrills and investing them with all of the drama of a sophomore fussing over her prom date. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Catherine Hardwicke is Anne Rice with a camera. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Seyfried holds the camera's attention, playing this storybook business pretty much straight, although David Leslie Johnson's script puts the actress sorely to the test. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Poor Amanda Seyfried. One of today's most lively and expressive young actresses, she finds herself stuck between two lifeless pieces of wood. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: You'll howl alright; this is the funniest movie I've seen all year. Yes, it's supposed to be a horror flick. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Red Riding Hood has the added inconvenience of being dreadfully serious about a plot so preposterous, it demands to be filmed by Monty Python. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Seeing the plot of 'Twilight' get stuffed into Little Red's riding hood is a painful business. But look for a fat box office. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Its WTF factor is off the charts, beginning with Hardwicke's all-too-obvious attempt to avenge herself upon the "Twilight" franchise. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Red Riding Hood" is entertainment for the village idiot. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Red Riding Hood" is such a sorrowful attempt to resurrect the marketing magic of "Twilight" that it ought to be titled "Career Eclipse." Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: What big eyes and lips Amanda Seyfried has. And what nice cheekbones Julie Christie, who plays her grandmother, has. Unfortunately, these are about the only outstanding features in Red Riding Hood. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Hardwicke helms Red Riding Hood with a clear vision for her target audience: young teens. There's violence but little blood, some chaste sexy bits and a few, swift scares. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: Was Red Riding Hood masterminded by a cadre of particularly silly eleven year-olds undergoing withdrawal from Twilight? That's the only excuse for a movie this dopey. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: Yes, there's enough connection with the source's underlying issues of repression and desire to give this reason to exist, but, boy, does Hardwicke labour in getting from fairy tale to would-be psycho-thriller. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A foolish story, marred by a strange blend of overacting and bland, offhand performances. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Intermittently enjoyable hokum at best. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: A lurid, loopy, utterly ludicrous enterprise that seeks to twist the ultimate fable of feminine fear and victimhood into an allegory for finding your inner bad girl. Read more