Like its shabby 2005 predecessor, this sequel's plasticine animation is roughly five years behind its kids'-film competitors – though to be fair, the datedness extends to all corners of the film's reimagining of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. ('Silence of the Lambs' and 'Scarface' references? A character using the term 'jiggy' while another blurts out, 'Buckle up, homies – it's on!'? Seriously?) The more this sequel tries to vainly reach for pop-culture hipness, the more it devolves into a slice of sub-'Shrek' riffing and the kind of potty humour that involves the big bad Wolf (Patrick Warburton) taking a shot to the crotch and deadpanning, 'Okay, I can taste my own butt.'
A martial-arts master who hones her bungee-jumping skills against a fey ogre, Red (Hayden Panettiere) teams up with her erstwhile enemy, the secret-agent Wolf, to save the extreme-sports-loving Granny (Glenn Close) from a witch (Joan Cusack) who's also kidnapped Hansel and Gretel. There's also a magical 'Super Truffle' that grants invincibility – the villains' ultimate goal, naturally – but the only thing that's being consumed in this hollow, schmaltzy trifle is a sugary toxicity apt to leave one with a gaping brain cavity. Further marred by second-rate 3D and the sort of cornball one-liners that even a fairy godmother couldn't love, it's a tolerance-testing tale that puts the grim in Grimm.