Limacher Low Down: I will start off by saying that I had reservations about watching “Hoodwinked!” a few years ago, and when I finally broke down and watched it I laughed REALLY hard. “Hoodwinked Too!”, though it is missing the vocal talents of Anne Hathaway as Red, really delivers MORE laughs than its predecessor. Both of these movies give the kiddos something to be entertained by, yet the humor of both (especially Hoodwinked Too!) is enough to entertain everyone. The jokes come at such a fast rate I will have to see it again just to pick up on what I missed the first time from being doubled over in laughter!
“Hoodwinked Too!” continues where “Hoodwinked!” left off, with Red (this time Hayden Panettiere), Granny (Glenn Close), Wolf (Patrick Warburton), and Twitchy (Cory Edwards) joining the services of Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) and the Happily Ever After Agency (HEA). The movie gives a quick recap of the events and characters of the first movie and starts off with the HEA attempting to rescue Hansel (Bill Hader) and Gretel (Amy Poehler) from the clutches of the evil Witch Verushka (Joan Cusack). Red is not there for the mission and it does not take long for things to quickly get out of hand, and immediately the humor begins. Verushka gets away with Hansel and Gretel, and even Granny gets taken hostage! The story has to develop somehow, right?
We move on to see that Red has been training with the “Sisters of the Hood” to become the best ass kicking baker in the land. Red gets news of Granny’s disappearance and seeks to join her fellow members of the HEA to locate Granny and rescue Hansel and Gretel – she has a full plate. The movie develops well here with the gang headed into the “city” to try and get some answers from Granny’s old informant, Jimmy 10-Strings (Wayne Newton). Jimmy 10-Strings works at a club called the Beanstalk, and his boss is simply known as the Giant (Brad Garrett). Once again, things quickly get out of hand for our heroes, but somehow they get the information they were seeking.
Next we get introduced to a familiar face from the first movie, Boingo the Bunny (Andy Dick), in what can be simply put as a great parody of a classic movie. Boingo reluctantly gives the duo more information than he had previously intended, but the information was seemingly too little too late. Now the plot rapidly develops as we learn the intentions of Verushka.
Red and Wolf continue their bickering ways and Wolf decides for Twitchy and he that it’s for the best for the HEA if they go on their own separate path from then on. In a rather humorous and unexpected twist, Wolf is visited by some enemies of his fairy tale past; the Three Little Pigs of Mad Hog (Cheech Marin), Stone (Tommy Chong), and Wood (Phil LaMarr). Narrowly escaping the attempt on his life, Wolf and Twitchy decide that it’s time to go back and right the wrongs of the past and make sure this story does indeed end Happily Ever After.
The movie delivers many twists and turns and keeps the laughs going throughout. I have heard some people say that these movies are a cheap Shrek knockoff, but I can honestly say that I laughed more in the first 15 minutes of “Hoodwinked Too!” MORE than all 4 of the Shrek movies COMBINED! The humor, the references, the themes, and continuity made the first movie enjoyable and its sequel even better. There are only two bad things I can say about “Too!” Hayden Panettiere as the voice of Red does not live up to the job that Anne Hathaway did in the original. Another part I didn’t care for was the fact the only way this movie was being shown around me was in 3D. The 3D effects mostly fell flat and a person would be just as well off seeing the movie in the standard 2D format. Those two things aside, if you’re a fan of the first one or even if you haven’t seen it, I assure you that “Hoodwinked Too!” delivers the laughs most of the movie.
