Summer Movie Preview: May (Part 2)

Continuing my look at the big summer movies of May...

Shrek 4: Forever Ever After (May 21): Hey, don't look at me. I thought the franchise was spent after the third one. Apparently Mike Myers' titular ogre is tired of being happy and wants to be an ogre like he was before, even if for just one day. Look, I know it's hard to tell good stories AFTER the "Happily Ever After," but why does this series seem to be all about Shrek bitching about what should be a great life?

Nevertheless, this one rates on the high side of a yellow light, and I may even see it a lot sooner than I should, because of one man: Puss in Boots, the best new movie character of the millennium. I have a bad feeling about the fourth installment of any series, but Puss in Boots is almost enough.

MacGruber (May 21): A movie based on a comedy sketch is dubious enough, but a movie based on a sketch I never find all that funny is grounds for a red light. That Toonces movie would have excited me more. I mean, even today that Toonces movie would have excited me more.

Sex and the City 2 (May 28): I was willing to tolerate the existence of the first movie--well, not really, I wasn't, but it came and went without my having to see it, and so I was not entirely upset with its existence. Now along comes a sequel that looks even less essential than "Shrek 4." I thought the whole point of the show was the New York setting, but this film transplants them to the desert. Just the other night, I saw a commercial that revealed that somehow John Corbett's character just happens to be wherever the "girls" end up.

I couldn't limit myself to my normal eye rolling; I had to make a wise-ass comment. When I turned to my wife to ask why the hell John Corbett was...wherever he was supposed to be, she could only say she didn't know. She clearly had no interest whatsoever in defending the creative choices made for "Sex and the City 2." And she WATCHED the first one! I guess what I'm trying to say here, folks, is, how in the world did Arli$ last as long as it did?

Need I mention I give this one a rock-solid red light? And, no, I don't care if it clashes with Carrie's Manolo Blahniks or whatever, a red light it is.

Prince of Persia (May 27): All it took was one look at Jake Gyllenhaal playing action hero in the trailer to make my sides ache. This really does look a helluva lot funnier than "MacGruber." You know, I had these feelings even before I learned it was based on a video game. This could show up in some Flop of the Year lists, so maybe it has some historical significance. Me, I give it a red light, and I urge Jake to limit his big-time movie heroics to starring in rumors that he's replacing Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man.