Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil

August 25, 2011

Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, or 3D Blu-ray / Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack

Hoodwinked wasn't a huge hit at the box office, but worldwide it was able to pull in $100 million on a production budget of less than $20 million. It was enough to warrant a a sequel, but there were some problems along the way. Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil was originally set for a 2008 release, but then it was pushed back, multiple times, before before finally coming out in April of this year. Sadly, the long wait didn't help the film's box office numbers and it was one of the biggest flops of the year. Was it really that bad? Or was it just hurt by the long time between installments.

The Movie

Hoodwinked was a Rashomon-like film set within the fairytale world. Several characters from Little Red Riding Hood (and a few other fairytales) are under investigation for crimes committed. It's a novel idea and the end result wasn't bad, for a kids movie. That plot is completely ignored in this movie. Now, the four main characters from that movie (Red Riding Hood, Granny, Big Bad Wolf, and Twitchy) work for a special agency called Happily Ever After (HEA) where they battle evil under the leadership of Nicky Flippers.

The team is in a bit of disarray at the beginning with Red off training with the Sisters of the Hood, mystical Kung Fu grannies who use the power of baked goodies to defeat evil. Things get worse for HEA when the remaining members of the team try and rescue Hansel and Gretel from Verushka, the evil witch. Big Bad Wolf tries to rescue the pair while ignoring procedure, but that only results in Granny being captured by Verushka, who then escapes with Granny, Hansel, and Gretel as her captives.

Meanwhile at the Sisterhood of the Kung Fu Bakers, Red's training is not going so well, as she is having troubles with discipline. It's too easy to get her angry and off her mission. But her training will have to wait, as the secret recipe for the Super Truffle has been stolen. It is up to Red and Big Bad to find out who stole it and to stop them. However, neither of them work well with partners and it isn't long before they've gone their separate ways.

Will Red and Big Bad learn to be partners? Will they rescue Granny and the two kids? Will they get the mastermind behind the kidnappings?

As a whole, Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil is definitely weaker than the sum of its parts, and a lot of its parts are not that good to begin with. The animation is definitely second-tier with not a lot of details, nor are the movements smooth. The plot is a bit of a mess with some good twists, but also too many scenes that feel disconnected. There are some funny one-liners, but too many pop-culture references that the target audience won't get. I know that those are for the parents forced to go with kids to see these movies. However, they don't work well here because there are too many of them, plus the film is aimed too young overall. Some of the voice acting is quite good (you can never go wrong with Patrick Warburton) but they are not given a lot to work with.

I think younger kids will get a kick out of the film, including the many action scenes, but the appeal ends there.

The Extras

Extras on the DVD start with three music videos, including one by Hayden Panettiere, a.k.a., Red. There's a multi-part behind-the-scenes featurette on the voice actors with a total running time of 19 minutes. Two scenes are presented in storyboard form. Finally, there's an image gallery and trailers for two games.

I don't have the Blu-ray or the 3D Blu-ray to compare, but it only costs $3.50 more to go to High Definition, and $2 more than that to go to 3D. You can't complain about those prices, if you are intent on purchasing the film.

The Verdict

Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil is certainly not as bad as either its box office numbers nor its Tomatometer Score would indicate. However, it is still, at best, merely an average kids movie with little crossover appeal. If you have kids of the right age, then it is worth checking out, but I would still with a rental. If you going to buy it, then stick with either the Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack or the 3D Blu-ray / Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, which are better deals than the DVD.


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Filed under: Video Review, Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil