Third time may not be the charm
Happy Friday! I’m having mixed feelings about this weekend, truthfully. I was all excited about Shrek the Third opening tonight. Mind you, I never go see a movie on opening night. Let’s not get crazy or anything. But when a promising family movie is opening on Friday night, I usually know it’s going to be a good weekend.
How do I know? Well, I may casually mention it to the kids on Thursday or Friday. “Hey guys… I hear [insert movie here] is opening this weekend. Maybe we’ll go see it.” And that’s all I need to do. For the rest of the weekend, I have an ace in the hole. Children fighting? “Gee, I guess we won’t be going to the movies.” Daughter back-talking? “Wow, that’s not going to make me want to take you to a movie.” Son melting down? “So you don’t want to go to the movies, then? Okay!” All misbehavior is nipped in the bud, and harmony reigns.
I’ve already admitted to being a huge Shrek fan, but now the moment of truth has arrived and… I’m nervous. The reviews for Shrek the Third aren’t looking too good. It’s not a huge surprise, I guess, but I’d still hoped for better.
There’s no disguising the fact that Shrek the Third has come down with a bad case of sequelitis. You know the symptoms: Lots of razzle-dazzle to distract from the hole at the center of the story. You know, the place where fresh ideas should be.
— Peter Travers
ROLLING STONE
Ouch. It, um, gets worse from there. Even the positive reviews basically warn that it’s more of the same, except less so.
All of which is pretty unfortunate, and greatly decreases my desire to shell out the bucks for a theater viewing. I don’t know; I may have to resort to actual parenting to get my kids to behave this weekend. Hmph.
Now if I could only get the kids to stop watching this, I’d be able to put this entire thing behind me.