Starring Morgan Thompson, Sam Stone, Lainie Kazan, and Joey Fatone
Directed by Randal Kleiser
Music and Lyrics by various
The wild success of the Shrek films made fairy tale parodies all the rage in the 2000's. We've already seen Disney's take on this idea, Enchanted, last year, but even low-budget studios made fun of stock fairy tale tropes. This B-level live action/CGI comedy crosses the satire with the teenage love of boy bands and rap and the CGI special effects that seemed to make anything possible, even turning a classic Brothers Grimm story into the tale of a little girl who dodges a very hungry wolf into a goofy action comedy. Does it work, or should it be eaten by the wolf? Let's begin in a colorless world, as Claire (Thompson) makes plans with her girlfriends to sneak out and see their favorite boy band, but is stopped by her bratty brother Matt (Stone) and her grandmother (Kazan) as she arrives with a very special book of fairy tales...
The Story: Anything Claire and Matt add to the story appears on the page, like Red Riding Hood (Thompson) riding a bike to Grandma's (Kazan), living in a lighthouse with her parents and brother Rusty (Stone), and dodging the Three Bullies on the bridge (Ashley Rose-Orr, Callie Waterman, and Andrea Bowen). The Wolf (Fatone) is actually a werewolf who is cursed to be perpetually hungry and will eat anything whole, people included. The Hunter) Henry Cavill) is after him for eating his parents.
Red doesn't believe in the wolf and doesn't listen to her mother (Debi Mazar) telling her to stay on the path. When she's stranded in the woods after getting a flat tire, Rusty comes to her rescue...but then he's stranded. It'll take a combined effort between the two of them and the help of a Superman of a Hunter to keep Red and Rusty out of a wolf stomach!
The Song and Dance: First of all, I do like the Princess Bride-esque premise of the real grandmother reading to them and it happening in the kids' imaginations. It explains some of the weirder parodies, like Grandma being on a chat room and the wolf eating a TV news reporter and a boy scout group, among others. It's also nice to get a glimpse of Cavill, well before his stardom a decade later as Superman, and Mazar and Kazan have a great time as the concerned mother and free-thinking grandmother. The CGI is cheap, but it's also colorful and even frightening with the shadowy woods and the wolf attacking his victims.
Favorite Number: We open with "Love and Affection" over the animated credits depicting a comic version of the story we're about to see. Our first actual song is a black and white music video for "Coming Up," performed by real-life boy band Natural. Claire watches it while talking to her buddies about sneaking out, at least until Matt wants to play video games. "Spirit - Freedom" is our first number in the fairy tale world. Red and Grandma sing about how they appreciate having the freedom do what they please. Red hopes that "Maybe Someday" the Hunter will see her as more than a kid.
"I Can't Lie" Red explains to the Wolf when he encounters her for the first time. The Wolf sings the "Lil' Red Riding Hood" song from the 60's and argues with himself that "I Want Her Now." "Hey Grandma" is the Wolf's number with the kids while dressed as - and taking the appearance of - Grandma. He keeps chasing them with his fangs and jumping at them. It's a relatively scary moment in a movie that mostly plays its fantasy antics for broad comedy.
What I Don't Like: Which brings me to the movie's biggest problem - the comedy is a little too broad. This sounds and looks more like a Looney Tune than Shrek, or even Princess Bride. The silly sound effects and most of the performances, especially Fatone's hungry wolf, are so over-the-top, they really get annoying after a while.
Red, on the other hand, is a snooty brat who refuses to do what her mother told her out of sheer contrariness. Her crush on the Hunter isn't terribly believable, especially when he turns up in the real-world at the end. He's probably in his 20's and she's about 13, making him way too old to be more than a crush...or as big of a deal as the movie makes it out to be. There's also the bad early CGI that makes everything look less like a fantasy and more like a cheap video game Matt's playing, dull songs, and constant references to chat rooms, e-mail, and boy bands that date the story badly.
The Big Finale: An interesting idea that could have used less over-the-top goofiness and more polish. It does seem to have its fans online who remember catching it on cable or DVD in the mid-late 2000's, but I thought it was just so-so. Would make decent background on a hot afternoon for bored pre-teens looking for something fun and goofy for their next pajama party.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the latter currently for free with commercials at the Roku Channel.
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