Recent sequels fall far short of originals
Sometimes Hollywood doesn’t know when to leave a good thing
alone. Two recently released films are good examples of when
Hollywood should just leave a franchise alone instead of making one
more movie with a weak plot that just regurgitates the same old
jokes that worked in the first film, and the second film, and the
third.
Dreamworks released the fourth installment (not including a
really bad made-for-TV holiday special) of the Shrek series two
weekends ago. With the title
”
Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter,
”
at least viewers can rest assured that there won’t be another
one. Then on Memorial Day Weekend, New Line Cinemas released
”
Sex and the City 2.
”
Recent sequels fall far short of originals
Sometimes Hollywood doesn’t know when to leave a good thing alone. Two recently released films are good examples of when Hollywood should just leave a franchise alone instead of making one more movie with a weak plot that just regurgitates the same old jokes that worked in the first film, and the second film, and the third.
Dreamworks released the fourth installment (not including a really bad made-for-TV holiday special) of the Shrek series two weekends ago. With the title “Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter,” at least viewers can rest assured that there won’t be another one. Then on Memorial Day Weekend, New Line Cinemas released “Sex and the City 2.”
Now the films might seem like they would have nothing in common except being sequels to a highly popular brand name. But surprisingly the dramatic push in each movie comes from the same place. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is living in his swamp with wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their triplets and he’s just not all that happy with married life. He never gets to be his men ogre self anymore and he’s always having to do chores around the house. In “Sex and the City 2,” Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr. Big (Chris Noth) are just about to celebrate their second anniversary. Like Shrek, Carrie starts to spazz out about married life. She wants sparkle and late-night parties and movie premieres. Mr. Big just wants to pick up take-out and sit on the couch watching TV.
Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter
For both movies, this sense of discontent is what moves the movies forward. In Shrek, he makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin (Walt Dorhn) to have just one day to be a mean ogre again in exchange for one day from his past. What he doesn’t realize is that the one day he has bartered away is the day he was born. Shrek soon realizes that life would be like in Far, Far Away if he had never been born to rescue Fiona from the tower. The only thing that can break his contract with Rumplestiltskin is true loves kiss and he has to get it before the day is up.
Shrek’s challenge is complicated because no one remembers him – not Fiona, not Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) and not Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas). In fact, Donkey is stuck working for some unlikable witches and Puss is Fiona’s pampered pet. The funniest thing in the movie is Banderas’ Puss in Boots who has become so pudgy he can barely clean himself. The rest of the movie just isn’t as funny as the original so it’s probably a good thing the creators are putting the series to rest.
Sex and the City 2
As for “Sex and the City 2” I will admit I am probably the only woman of my generation who didn’t watch the series faithfully. I didn’t watch it when it was on HBO, I didn’t watch it when it came out on DVD and I didn’t watch it when it started running in syndication. I’ve seen a few episodes, but only saw the movies because my sister is a big fan. I thought the first movie was funny and clever, and I didn’t feel last for having not watched the series. But this second movie just seems to be grasping at straws and the timing seems all off for it.
For all the bits of drama the movie created for the women, nothing really takes hold. There is Carrie who is unhappy with her married life even though she got the man of her dreams, who is rich, successful and handsome. She’s got her dream job as a writer. And she has the most amazing walk-in closet full of designer clothes I’ve ever seen. But still she doesn’t want to end up an old, boring married couple.
Charlotte’s (Kristin Davis) drama comes in the form of two kids and a nanny who has a penchant for going braless. I doubt many mothers who saw the movie will feel sorry for Charlotte when she feels overwhelmed by her kids since she is not only a stay-at-home mom, but a stay-at-home mom who has a full-time, live-in nanny. Of course, Samantha does plant a seed of doubt that her husband may be interested in the nanny.
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is still a workaholic who barely has time to pay attention to her son, but an overbearing new boss at her law firm pushes her a little too far. Her drama comes in the form of quitting her job – something that is completely out of character for her. Of course, she has already started contacting head hunters before she even gets home to tell her husband the news, so there is really not much drama there.
Samantha’s (Kim Cattrall) big issue is that she is going through menopause, something to which the younger audience members probably cannot relate. She is busy pumping herself full of hormones to keep her looks and her sex drive.
For some reason, the solution to all their problems seems to be to leave the husbands, kids, job search and everything else behind for an impromptu visit to Abu Dhabi. It just takes too long for the screenwriters to get us to this point, and then the drama in Abu Dhabi is all wrapped up a little too quickly. Carrie’s encounter with ex-boyfriend Aidan (John Corbett) is too short to really create any tension. And even her conspicuously lost passport doesn’t lead to any major drama. The most ridiculous scene in the movie is toward the end, when a group of Muslim women reveal that they are wearing designer duds under their traditional garb. It just came across as really cheesy.
Both “Shrek Forever After” and “Sex and the City 2” are movies to skip except for the most die-hard fans of the series.
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected]. She writes a blog at http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com.
