Who’s afraid of the big, bad werewolf? The entire village of Daggerhorn, whose inhabitants walk around in wide-eyed fear for most of the movie, that’s who. And the expression on the Red Riding Hood’s (Amanda Seyfried) face in the promo posters pretty much sums up the range of her expressions for much of the movie. She’s mopey because she’s in love with broody bad boy Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but has been betrothed to wealthy goody-two-shoes Henry (Max Irons), and the big bad werewolf killed her sister and a whole bunch of other people. Baying for blood, the villagers engage the services of the apparently legendary werewolf hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), who comes across more pompous magician than wise beasthunter. The werewolf could be any one of them, and Valerie discovers she can understand wolf speak.This is supposed to be a mystery fantasy flick with a touch of romance, but in the hands of Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, it screams B-grade teen movie—from the juvenile camera direction to the heartthrob-in-the-making actors and indie/electronica soundtrack. The camerawork is more suited to TV dramas like Vampire Diaries, and the costumes look like they were purchased from your neighborhood costume shop.While Irons seemed the most comfortable as Henry, the acting from the rest comes over quite forced. Fernandez is meant to smolder as Peter, but he broods so much he comes across all stiff-jawed and squinty-eyed. Julie Christie turns Grandmother into a Galadriel tryhard. And the flimsy script, bad cinematography, bad acting, bad costumes and bad backdrop combine to drown out the weak little plot twist near the end. Go see it if all you care about is eye candy.
