Ogling the Ogres.

I was remiss in noting in my last update that I -- like most of America -- caught Shrek 2 over last weekend. Not much to say about it really...I thought it was as entertaining, eye-popping, and effervescent as the first outing, if ultimately somewhat insubstantial. I enjoyed myself while Shrek was on, then promptly forgot about it, but what more can you really expect?

Antonio Banderas as Puss-in-Boots (at left) was a quality pickup for the franchise, and I particularly liked the COPS takeoff and anything involving the blind mice. Still, if I have a beef with Shrek 2, it's mainly that the movie wouldn't stop trying to sell me the associated soundtrack of easy listening tunes and contemporary standards. Enough already! I prefer my fairy tale adventures without merchandising tie-ins...there's only so many Versarchery, Farbucks and Old Knavery jokes one can make before the film feels complicit in the commercialism it's sending up. But, that's the ogre talking...All in all, Shrek 2 is 100 minutes of solid escapism, which is more than you can say for a lot of films so far this summer.