Does Shrek have a lawyer? If so, he should get him to order this fairytale-spoofing ’toon to Cease And Desist, lest any child mistake its lo-fi foolishness for the real thing. Primitive as it is, there’s an unhinged wackiness and verbal wit in Cory Edwards’ debut feature that makes it considerably more appealing than most cookie-cutter studio animations.
Retooling Red Riding Hood’s Grimm encounter with the Wolf as a crime scene, Hoodwinked has a dapper frog detective testing if either is as guilty or innocent as they first appear. How amusing you find the results depends on your tolerance for warbling goats, porcine policemen and snowboarding grandmothers voiced by Glenn Close. Still, with everyone in Hollywood emulating Pixar’s perfection, this cheap and cheerful alternative at least bucks the trend – not least by avoiding easy sentiment and the usual prescriptive moral.
