What else ya got? More of the same? Yawn. We’ve been around the park twice, bought the T-shirt and the Shrek ears, sent a postcard home. We’re primed, now, for the tweaking of fairy tales and the postironic spin on myths and mythmaking. But Shrek the Second did what very few films can actually manage to do: it found wild new realms of humor by being riotously original, by not retreading ground that’s already been well explored and mapped.īut guess what? Yup: just as Sam Raimi’s genius with his first two Spidey outings ruined us for Spider-Man 3, Shrek and Shrek 2 ruined us for Shrek the Third. I snort in recognition of a bit of mockery or clever turn of phrase. And laugh? Holy crap, Shrek 2 had me screaming with laughter, which simply isn’t the typical me. Shrek 2 stunned me in that it was even smarter and slyer and more seditious than the first.
But I wanted a lot more than “fine.” I expected much, much more than “fine.” Shrek’s deconstruction of fairy tales managed to be both deliciously subversive and heartwarmingly traditional. I’m tellin’ ya, if Pirates the Third is this ho-hum, I’m gonna curl up in bed and hibernate till September. They both end up being "okay," but never the ones you'll go back to first on rewatches.It’s not even summer yet, but already it’s the summer of the three-quel, and already we’re oh-no for two. It doesn't make Shrek 3 or Kung Fu Panda 3 bad movies on their own, but like you said, they're going up against high expectations. Still great acting/fights/music/art, but when they have a chance to do something new they instead rely on what's familiar. But then in KFP 3 they fall back to KFP 1 beats where Po spends the whole movie training for a fight against a bad guy that's hunting him down while his friends try (and fail) to stop him. It's similar to how Kung Fu Panda 2 is a great sequel to KFP 1 because they build on the world, have a compelling villain, and change up the story formula. And the new characters of Arthur and Merlin aren't that memorable, along with the settings they're introduced in. Instead of a new villain, it's Prince Charming the climax is in Far Far Away again and you have Shrek/Donkey/Puss going off an adventure while Fiona stays home with the B plot. I haven't seen it since it was in theaters, but I remember that I felt like it was too similar to the second movie while the new parts weren't all that strong.
0 kommentar(er)
