Red Riding Hood film brings yawns

In their first animated movie, directors Cory and Todd Edwards took on a large task, trying to surpass the many great animated movies of modern cinema. They might need another shot to conquer that feat as "Hoodwinked" did not live up to expectations. Despite a great trailer, the newest CGI movie was not as funny as suggested.\n"Hoodwinked" is a movie branching off the old story of "Little Red Riding Hood." The movie starts from the end, working backwards to unveil the motive for charges drawn at Granny's (Glenn Close) cottage, which includes breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, intent to eat and wielding an axe without a license. Since there were four individuals involved in the incideny - Red (Anne Hathaway), Granny, the Wolf (Patrick Warburton), and the Woodsman (Jim Belushi) - there must be four stories of what happened. \nMost of the film revolves around these stories, told by each character, and it comes to light that the same incident might be tied to the notorious Goody Bandit who forced many people in the food business into unemployment after stealing their recipes.\nWhile "Hoodwinked" did have its moments, they were few and far between. There were a few jokes derived from "Mission Impossible" and "XXX," but they weren't enough to help make the Edwards brothers' first stab at animation become a success. There was nothing in the movie that consistently made the audience laugh or yearn for more like a successful movie should do.\n"Hoodwinked" tries to emulate great animated movies like "Shrek" and "The Polar Express," but fails not only as an entertaining movie but also in image quality. The animation is poor and lacks that wow factor that people have come to expect when they go see an animated film these days.\nQuite frankly I would have rather laid back in the comfortable seats of the movie theater and taken a nap than watch a strung out plot line with very little reason to laugh or become stunned because of the extraordinary things Hollywood can do with animation. So while you're considering a movie to go see for this weekend, I would recommend something else. There's really no reason to see a film that can be substituted with the sleep you got from the night before.