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| Bella and Edward look on... |
I grew up wanting this film. Not this film, strictly speaking, but what this film could have been. I've often said that the most important part of film criticism is to not judge what could have been, but what is, and simply that. I know that I was a fan of the fairy tale from a young age, even to this day. And I know that the film I always wanted to see what more The Ghost and the Darkness (a truly terrific and terrifying film) and less Twilight (which I enjoy, for what it's worth). But, what we got was Twilight and not The Ghost and the Darkness.
What sets them apart is this - Red Riding Hood could have been a film about a wolf hunt, about the strength of family, and a feminist's wet dream. Red Riding Hood wound up being a film about a teenage love story between an outsider and the pretty girl, and a whodunit about a werewolf. Careful distinction - Little Red Riding Hood is almost exactly like the former, and Catherine Hardwicke's version is exactly like the latter. Remember that Catherine Hardwicke gave us the first Twilight. She almost ruined that, and she did ruin this. Beyond repair.
More after the cut --
