This film is a steaming pile of cinematic poop. It's dreadful in every single way. There's not one nice thing I can muster to say about it. It makes the Twilight series, which it so blatantly and unashamedly mimics, look positively brilliant. I can understand the logic from Warner Bros; in a time where Edward Cullen and Bella Swan rule the roost, why wouldn't you want to get in for your share of the pie. I'm sure it will reap the rewards at the box office thanks to the universal lack of taste teenage girls have in picking fads. That doesn't stop it being the worst movie of recent years.
It all begins with the downright hilarious dialogue. In a film rife with atrocities, this stands tall as the most dreadful of the lot. I almost feel sympathy towards the actors as no-one, and I mean no-one, could make some of those clunkers work. Trite clichés such as "I don't want you to see me like this" (complete with sooky head turn) and "I'll do anything to be with you" (barf) rear their ugly head throughout. Even the attempted humour, mainly from Julie Christie's Grandmother, falls flat thanks to some lamely scripted jokes. Hardwicke does what she can to emulate her Twilight success, but her regurgitating attempts at hitting gold twice is boring, lazy and worthy of the regret she'll feel at the end of her career looking back.
Youngsters Seyfried, Fernandez and Irons can be forgiven for signing on as I'm sure they all had grand illusions of being the next Bella, Edward of Jacob. I can even give Burke and Haas a pass as they're not exactly thespians of a standard where they can be too fussy with their roles. What I can't figure out though, is what in the hell is Gary Oldman doing here? An actor who has produced so many memorable characters and starred in so many fantastic films, Hardwicke must've beaten a drunken Oldman in a game of poker to get him to appear in this garbage. Surely he didn't select this role whilst of a sane and sober mind. Hopefully for him his upcoming Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Dark Knight Rises wash away all memory of Red Riding.
Pathetic.
1 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Average, 3 - Good, 4 - Great, 5 - Brilliant)
It all begins with the downright hilarious dialogue. In a film rife with atrocities, this stands tall as the most dreadful of the lot. I almost feel sympathy towards the actors as no-one, and I mean no-one, could make some of those clunkers work. Trite clichés such as "I don't want you to see me like this" (complete with sooky head turn) and "I'll do anything to be with you" (barf) rear their ugly head throughout. Even the attempted humour, mainly from Julie Christie's Grandmother, falls flat thanks to some lamely scripted jokes. Hardwicke does what she can to emulate her Twilight success, but her regurgitating attempts at hitting gold twice is boring, lazy and worthy of the regret she'll feel at the end of her career looking back.
Youngsters Seyfried, Fernandez and Irons can be forgiven for signing on as I'm sure they all had grand illusions of being the next Bella, Edward of Jacob. I can even give Burke and Haas a pass as they're not exactly thespians of a standard where they can be too fussy with their roles. What I can't figure out though, is what in the hell is Gary Oldman doing here? An actor who has produced so many memorable characters and starred in so many fantastic films, Hardwicke must've beaten a drunken Oldman in a game of poker to get him to appear in this garbage. Surely he didn't select this role whilst of a sane and sober mind. Hopefully for him his upcoming Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Dark Knight Rises wash away all memory of Red Riding.
Pathetic.
1 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Average, 3 - Good, 4 - Great, 5 - Brilliant)