Shrek Forever After

♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Good score for the visual experience, an area in which this franchise never disappoints, specially now for the first time in 3D. The problem is with the story itself. Like those sequels of popular Disney cartoons such as Aladdin and The Lion King, this particular Shrek installment's story also seems to be just good enough for a straight to DVD movie. They were already running out of stories to tell in the third one and was just saved by their funny parodies of classic Disney characters. In this one, they had to make an alternate storyline just to accommodate Rumpelstiltskin. Boring.

It does not help either that this one is not as funny and enjoyable as the previous three. Rumpelstiltskin is not funny at all. His jokes are corny and he is plain annoying. It is a good thing that at least Donkey and Puss still get their fair share of funny lines despite the relatively less exposure that they have. Even Pinocchio and the gang have suddenly become dull.

Here Comes the Bride

♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Angelica Panganiban outgays John Lapus and outshines Eugene Domingo for a couple of reasons, but primarily because she got the good roles. People were giggling all the time as she acted like a demure schoolgirl at the beginning of the movie, perhaps people have already identified strongly to the "babaeng-bakla" persona she has been flaunting lately. As a gay beautician trapped in a woman's body, she is sort of OA but saved by the notion that if it ever happened in real life, Lapus would be more or less acting the same way.

It has been mentioned before somewhere that this material would fare well as a theater piece. This is probably true given that this movie is an ensemble piece. The enjoyment derived from watching it greatly depends on the creativity of the actors in playing their roles and the rapport created among them. The plot is rather predictable. The bloopers at the end of the movie and the Photoshop-aided brief explanation of the connection among the five of them (after the end credits) sort of make up for the lack of a big plot twist.

Working Girls

♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Plot is all over the place. Too many characters, which: a) prohibits cohesion in the storyline; and b) leaves most subplots undeveloped and not engaging enough for you to care. The attempt for cohesion in One Night Only (another multi-character Jose Javier Reyes flick) is better. Movie is saved by a handful of characters with colorful personalities, albeit a bit over the top (e.g. Eugene Domingo and Cristine Reyes).

Eugene Domingo steals the show from all of the girls, which is ironic because she is totally detached from their storyline. She has her own interesting subplot all to herself, which could have been expounded in lieu of the other less interesting characters' and added more entertainment value to the movie as a whole. What is notable is that while she does steal the limelight from the girls, she does not manage to upstage Ricky Davao. This results in enjoyable scenes of them together. Less shouting from her and it could have been better.