Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil

The original was a work of genius. While openly based on a twisted version of a fairy tale, it was more subtly based upon one of Kurosawa's great films, Roshamon. The characters and plot of the original was truly quirky and appealing. As well, the tunes were catchy and thoughtful. None of that was present in the sequel.

I can't imagine what the Edwards Brothers were thinking. My guess is that their creative input was limited to Cory's role as Twitchy. Patrick Warburton is alway enjoyable, but his character lost some of its edge in the sequel. I attribute this to the writing more than his acting. The same can be said for Glenn Close, whose character took an even greater nose dive. Cory Edwards was the only one allowed to remain up to his game. I suspected the sequel would be lacking when I noticed that Anne Hathaway was replaced. Aside from the lack of genius in the plot, this was the biggest loss. I was also sad to see Jim Belushi gone, but Martin short has his own comic genius. Unfortunately, it was given little opportunity.

There were no great songs like Red is Blue or Critters Have Feelings. The music was mainstream pop and easily forgettable.

The creators should have modeled the sequel after another Kurosawa, but I don't suspect that creative genius was what they were going for in this film.

While it was a big disappointment, all-in-all the film was OK.