Shrieking with Disappointment with Shrek

Weekend of 1st & 2nd June

Saturday


Since the release of so many blockbuster movies in cinemas recently, my life had been dominated by it. Seriously, every single weekend it’s been movies, movies and more movies. From Cineleisure, KLCC, 1 Utama, Mid Valley, you name it (please name only in Klang Valley area haha) I’ve been there to watch these movies. It’s like a cinema marathon, and I LOVE it!!! I love movies, I love the visuals, the sound, the comfort of a good cinema hall, everything to anything about movies. I’m such a movie freak, I watch movies that I love for 10 times at least. For example, last time there was this movie called ‘Gladiator’ with Russell Crowe in it and I saw it 4 times in the cinema, 12 times on DVD and 3 times on HBO. And that was when I was having exams. If only I was totally free…Even friends have complained that I care about my movies more than them. One time, my friend was having a birthday party at 'Ruums', KL. But at the same time, I got tickets to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ showing on the first weekend it opened in cinemas, and not only that: I got cinema seats right in the middle of hall in full THX and comfort glory. I had to make a decision fast, and the decision was easy: "Ahoy maties, plunder me pirates n’ load me wif the best rum I say!!!", My birthday friend did not speak to me for a month….Sigh…

But anyway, this weekend, it was ‘Shrek 3’ at Cineleisuire and what was my opinion about it….?

Well, in full honestly, 'Shrek' is seriously suffering from old age and a few bouts of arthritis. The first ‘Shrek’ movie in 2001 worked so brilliantly because it was fresh with its unexpected jokes aimed at fairytales and pop culture. With its charming story aimed at the kids and the witty jokes accessible to the adults, it was a delicious mix for everyone. Following the first movie was its sequel, ‘Shrek 2’ which although showed signs of rust, it was still a bang of a good time for the audience (remember Puss in Boots? What a character) and a good profitable streak for Shrek.

So can the third installment follow the solid one-two podium finish of its predecessors? The answer is a simple ‘no’. Although ‘Shrek 3’ remains amusing and provides the previous movies continuity, this 3rd installment gravely lacks the energy and novelty of the prequels. It’s very sad for me to say this but ‘Shrek’ joins a long list of sufferers of ‘Trilogious Fatiguesm’, i.e. exhaution from too many sequels, with noted victims in the past to include ‘The Matrix’, ‘Spider-Man’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and to some extent, ‘Star Wars’.

So what exactly is wrong this ‘Shrek 3’? In my opinion, this installment played a bit too safe with the story. Just like those American Idols wanna-be singers that do not want to screw up their chances of getting votes by singing those mushy love songs to play it safe (which I want to add, the show is rigged (i.e. BRIBED!!) to such a point that it is a joke) . This movie has lacked the edgy wittiness and at times, the cleverness of the jokes from the previous installments, such as the numerous Disney potshots that 'Shrek 1 & 2' loves to throw at them, changing to materials that plays exactly like a Disney movie. Hello people of Dreamworks that made Shrek so popular, you are against Disney, not with Disney, that’s how you guys were so cool in first two movies, remember? That’s how you won me over with a CGI movie and not something like ‘Cars’ or that cartoon that has penguins suffering from identity and vocal disorders endured from too much boredom in the North Pole. What, they are cute? Lilo & Stitch are cute, these penguins are just poor imitations of entertainment. Singing with perfectly choreographed dancing? It’s a CGI movie, they can do anything with the computer, I mean they can even make the snowflakes look like Michael Jackson and do the ‘Thriller’ with penguins dressed as zombies. It’s CGI, there’s nothing to admire about choreography. You want choreography, go to your nearest stage musical (i.e. ‘The Kind & I’) and admire that, not here.

Another flaw is much to do with its superb line-up of talent voicing the characters. The list goes on: Mike Myers, John Cleese, Antonio Banderas, etc. So much talent on offer, and yet so little to show for it? What, did these guys think this up on a bored Sunday afternoon: “Oops, I feel like I want to be in a Shrek movie today, just for today and not any other day…Mr. Agent, please arrange something with Dreamworks, chop chop!!” A few days later, Dreamworks dreams of some cute furry animal for this superstar and BANG!!! Money in the bank. I mean, this is Dreamworks, the movie studio that Steven Spielberg helped establish and yet, bitter materials get churned out from his fruits of labor?

‘Shrek 3’ has become a movie that is meant to be exactly the opposite. Too sweet, too predictable, too Disney. I mean, somewhere in this movie, there are lessons to be learned, morals to be upheld and acts to be admired. Even the climax is let-down by a preachy speech about something I forgot (or my mind chose to forget) than a thrilling, fun and off-the-chuff ending which ‘Shrek 2’ did so well. With these flaws, the moviemakers has robbed, no, to be more precise, practically raped away the irascible charm and spunky wit that made Shrek characters so enduring and entertaining in the first place.

Out of all the summer movies that came out these few months, ‘Shrek 3’ is pitifully disappointing and will do just about to satisfy the little children with unlimited demand for whatever that is Shrek, nothing more. I should have just waited for it on a pirated DVD….

What? I’m a movie freak, I’ll watch movies even if it’s bad. I just like to know how bad the movie get…

Oh, and before we entered the cinema, we went to 'Midori' and sinfuly tucked in a strawberry sundae, which for RM10 is not bad. It's good for sharing, and good for chatting away the extra moments while waiting for the movie to start...

After Shrek 3...

Coming out of the cinema feeling robbed and molested, we decided we need to reclaim some of our dignity back, or else my nights will never be the same again. Bored with the usual entertainment at 'The Curve', we decided to leave the scene of the crime and headed off as far, far away as possible…into KL. Hungry and deprived of something good, we chose to indulge ourselves in something a little more unique: Korean BBQ!!! Yes, enough with the sashimis, burgers and steaks, we want raw goodness, and that was what we got in the Korean BBQ. We stopped at a restaurant called 'Jung Won’ which is snuggled up in between the embassies and bungalows of Jalan Ampang. Once inside, it was not the usual restaurant as it had an open concept whereby tables were placed in huts and were nicely spaced out. So this offered us an ample amount of ventilation and fresh air. No walls, no chairs and no problems with ambience as a romantic fish pond equipped with a water wheel nestled in the middle of the restaurant, offering a splendid view and idealistic charm.

We have no idea what to order so we asked the waiter to suggest some dishes. He suggested the beef as it was their signature dish, the chicken marinated in spicy honey and eel in black sauce. We skipped the eel. Within seconds the tables were prepared with delicious aplomb and I must say the service is excellent, the waiter took precise care to cook our beef and it turned out wonderfully.

However, my optimism is not extend to the tid-bits offered (the tid-bits are customary offerings when you eat Korean food, and these tid-bits comes in not one plate, but at least TWENTY!!!) These tid-bits are, in my opinion, BAD. Maybe I’m not used to Korean food, but the Kim Chi tasted as sour as my 6 months old milk. From every bite, my face was a crumpled canvas of agony, with hints of difficulty trying very hard to hold the tears that are fighting to rupture from my eyes. But other than that, the food flowed well into me, with a few drips of tears flowing down my cheek as well from the kimchi.

We chit-chatted, laughed, and had unique fun. From that, we adjourned into the night….

Sunday

Woke up very late in the day, forgot an appointment with some friends at Taipan, USJ for lunch and duly got sounded. Sigh. They forced me to belanja them TGI Fridays because of this. Without saying another word, I quickly closed my phone and went back to sleep...

Woke up again, is it night already? Shocked, I quickly got up. Pulling back the curtains, I looked out the window and found the skies are almost pitch black with dark clouds threatening to unleash wet hell onto the helpless residents of Earth. Crap, and I’m feeling hungry and no one’s at home to get food! I checked my phone, and 6 messages:

1.) “You have to belanja us TGI Fridays…” quickly change to next message.
2.) “You STILL have to belanja us…” next please.
3.) “Wei, tonight’s yamca cancelled, Jay FFK…” crap, now seriously got no food.
4.) “Wanna go dinner later?” surprised, I checked at the name, checked I do not owe this person anything, and replied ‘Yes’…

We went to 1 Utama to scour for food and ended up in Nando’s. Ordered something that is not the usual ‘¼ chicken set with 2 side dishes’, I ‘mini-miny-moed’ the menu and came out with something called Paracorta or Terracotta or Do-u-really-wanna or something like that. I said yes and BANG!!! The waiter come over with chicken cutlets on skewers as tall as a 10 year old boy. At first sight it was scary, like a scene right out of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” due to the meat pinched with big bad skewers. But at the bottom plate nestled nice wedges and a fine salad, so I guess it can’t be that bad. Tuck in if you dare, I told myself. I obliged and it was a nice surprise. 2 hours later, we adjourned for the day.