Well now. The reviews are in and Red Riding Hood appears to be receiving worse reviews than Beastly did last week. If asked, most of the reviewers would apparently recommend Beastly over Red Riding Hood. I talked about movie reviews and fairy tale films last week. I won't diatribe again.
Overall, I'm hoping the movie does well at the box office so the slate of upcoming fairy tale films will continue to receive the support they need from the studios. Beastly performed better than expected, so hopefully Red Riding Hood will do well enough, too. I also wonder just how much of the dislike is a backlash against Catherine Hardwicke and the Twilight culture. After all, it's cool to hate Twilight and anything that smells of its influence. Unless you are a Twilight fan, of course. Harry Potter didn't appear to be this divisive. That said, the criticism appears to be valid on many points, too. That doesn't mean that the target teen audience isn't going to adore it. I'm eager to read the word of mouth.
On the other hand, Jane Eyre, which has a limited release today, is getting strong reviews. I really want to see it so I am bummed it's not playing in Nashville yet.
So are you going to see Red Riding Hood this weekend? If you do, please come back and report!
Weekend is too busy to see RRH, but I do plan to hit it next weekend. Might try to do a double header as I haven't yet seen Beastly, though I found the book very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre looks FAB!
I saw Red Riding Hood on Saturday. I actually quite enjoyed it. Didn't read any reviews in advance, so went in unbiased. I loved the music and atmosphere, and it kept you guessing on who was the big bad wolf.
ReplyDeleteI saw it release day and I have to say that it was a terrible disappointment. There were hardly any well rounded characters, which led to a dull, but pretty experience. This is curious to me, considering fairy tales can function with grand archetypes and still be interesting, yet this movie couldn't seem to do that with its characters or plot.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we expect too much on the big screen? We expect immersion? To be haunted by the imagery? To find compelling people to care about on a more particularly detailed human level?
I did find it interesting the story took a more 'who is the wolf' plot than a straightforward rendition, but that was about it.
If anything, I shall hope it does well, if only so the market will be more receptive to truly mature and well written fairy tale movies. Pan's Labyrinth in the meanwhile remains my eternal fairy tale favorite! (With Black Swan trailing closely behind)
The lush mountains and misty village were great scenery, but I just wanted more.