Meh.

"From the director of Twilight"-- Oh really? I couldn't tell. Everything about this movie screamed Twilight, from the aerial mountain shots to the focus on people's facial expressions, even down to the CGI wolf and certain parts of the plot (two possible suitors for one girl, hmm). And most of the parts that didn't scream Twilight, to me, screamed Hunger Games. I really don't even think that's just because I've had The Hunger Games on the mind lately; I am pretty sure that whoever wrote this movie had recently read it. First of all, those two possible suitors looked and acted shockingly like the descriptions of Gale and Peeta. Peter, Valerie's friend she MET IN THE WOODS when they were KIDS and with whom she BREAKS RULES and GOES HUNTING, wants to RUN AWAY with her, and is JEALOUS that she has been fixed up with someone else. Enter Henry, the guy Valerie's town has arranged for her to marry, in whom she has to PRETEND she's interested even though HE DOESN'T. Poor Henry's not pretending, he'll go ahead and RISK HIS OWN LIFE to make sure she's protected. He'll even WORK WITH Peter when necessary, even though he KNOWS Peter and Valerie have a history. Peter and Henry don't like each other AT FIRST, but then come to ACCEPT each other. Peter has dark hair and dark eyes, Henry has light hair (and dark eyes, which is one difference because Peeta has blue eyes). While these two seem to be complete knockoffs, Valerie doesn't compare with Katniss at all, except for one point which I will get to later. Basically all we know about her is that she loves Peter and is willing to accuse anyone of being the wolf... except the person who actually is the wolf. The attraction to her seems to be inexplicable and therefore chalked up to only her looks, while Katniss is pretty much the best central character ever created. Just saying.

Secondly, there's the whole concept of Valerie becoming pretty much the symbol of everything her town hates, and the red riding hood being the symbol upon the symbol-- aka mockingjay pin-- but they are divided on whether or not to use her as a way of getting rid of the wolf. Those who care about her don't want her to go, those who care more about their way of life are ready to literally feed her to the wolves. This is oddly familiar. [If you can't figure out why, don't ask. I can't tell you.]

I found these comparisons distracting during the movie, to the point where I was actually laughing at the ridiculousness of it. Especially seeing she threw away a perfectly good guy (or should I say Good Guy), for a guy who turned into a werewolf in the end-- oops, did I give it away?-- when the explanation for the main character's ultimate choice in Mockingjay was explained much better and made more sense.

Getting away from the comparisons now, I didn't totally hate Red Riding Hood. There were a few plot twists I found intriguing that, believe it or not, actually helped move the story along. As a different take on the old, so-called "children's story," I thought it was more than sufficient, if a bit unforgiving (a little comedic relief would've been nice now and then, for a story that was so laughable). Frankly I never enjoyed the whole wolf-ate-my-grandma idea anyway. Not to mention Amanda Seyfried is never awkward or annoying to watch onscreen. I think there will be mixed reactions to the open-endedness of it, but I liked it because it left room for a sequel while also being enough of a conclusion to stand on its own, considering its numbers at the box office probably won't encourage the production company to jump at the chance to pay for a sequel.

All in all, it depends on what kind of love story you like. If you want it to be a happily-ever-after, nobody-gets-hurt, we-all-hold-hands-in-Whoville type of ending, don't watch. If you're a fan of Twilight or, you guessed it, The Hunger Games, go ahead and watch it, but I don't guarantee you'll be satisfied. C+