Shrek the Third

I had high expectations for this movie. When I saw Shrek 2, I was pleasantly surprised. Few sequels are as good as the original, but Shrek 2 was.

Shrek the third did not continue this trend. While there were sill plenty of funny moments, it was nowhere near as amusing or original as the first two. They could have done so much more with this movie if they had tried. At the end, I felt sort of cheated.

However, Shek the third isn't a bad movie in itself, only when compared to the others. I would still recommend going to see it. Unlike most, I liked Artie's character, even if he did talk too much (I'm not even a Justin Timberlake fan).

I couldn't wait to see Shrek the Third, especially since I have such a great love for the second Shrek, I'm just in love with Puss in Boots. But, the trailer looked great and the stories have worked so far, my mom and I saw the premier show today and while the movie has great laughs, there seemed to be something lacking in the Shrek world. I think the characters didn't seem to click as well as they did in the first two. Shrek the Third has the return of the whole cast, including the new heir to the thrown, Arthur.

Shrek and Fiona have a problem, Fiona's father, the frog King of Far Far Away, has passed away and now it's up to Shrek to take the crown. But Shrek is too scared to step up and looks to the next man in line, well, actually a teenage, Arthur. Shrek, Puss, and Donkey go to find Artie, but there is one more problem going on, Prince Charming wants his kingdom of Far Far Away back like it was promised to him and he will go through anything to get it back. Fionna and the other princesses are kidnapped while Shrek's life is in danger and they must all pull together to save him in time for Arthur to take over the kingdom.

Shrek the Third has great jokes, terrific animation, and lovable characters, especially the character, Merlin, he was just a terrific spoof. But the characters seemed to be lacking the same chemistry as they did in the first two films. I would recommend Shrek the Third, it's a good movie for the family and for a summer movie, because I do guarantee a fun time. I don't know if everyone will agree, but so far I know a few people know that there is something lacking from the world of Shrek.

7/10

Shrek The Third is another entertaining romp through the erstwhile Hollywood of Far Far Away with a few laughs for adults and a few more for kids. Like all of the films in this series, it has a big and good heart, and occasionally pays homage to or pokes fun at modern films. Unlike the previous films, however, Shrek III is not a source of non-stop hilarity, and contains a little more thematic content.

Shrek finds himself inheriting his father-in-law's crown and learns that Fiona is pregnant. Predictably, both of these eventualities play pretty dissonantly on the big green guy's insecurities, and he goes a-questing to locate the next-in-line of succession - a young, dejected, high school kid. Meanwhile, charming has developed even more of an attitude problem, and is putting together a whole battalion of people with grudges.

One of the themes of the first two Shrek films was 'don't judge a book by its cover'. Shrek III takes the theme a little farther and puts a different spin on it. The lesson learned here is "don't judge yourself superficially." And it works. My rating of six is based solely on the entertainment value of the film. This film is not quite as well-paced and well-directed as the previous two films, and Charming is simply not the heavy-weight heavy that his mom was. Nevertheless, it's still worth a look, and still carries positive messages entertainingly.

So, I just caught the 10 pm show of Shrek 3 and I gotta say, as a fan of the first two I was not impressed. In fact, I was very disappointed. It literally was the same movie the third time, and instead of infusing it with tons of fun and pop culture references like the second Shrek did, it just relied on its plot and genre convention to further it. There was ONE funny moment. The Led Zeppelin reference was good and was funny, but as a whole, the movie was a phoned in experience. Again, what a disappointment. At least most of the stuff shown in the trailer was in the first fifteen minutes or so and you get fresh stuff from there on out. The sad thing is that this fresh stuff feels dull and rehashed even though you've never seen it before.

Terrible effort all the way around.

The story of Shrek the Third (2007) is not quite as good as the first or second films but the comical lines and visual comedy is still right up there with the first two movies.

Some of the new characters are not quite as enduring and memorable in Shrek 3 but they are quite likable and entertaining.

The animation in this 3rd installment of the film series is still awesome.

All I can really say is I enjoyed this 3rd film. And I do recommend it if you enjoyed Shrek and Shrek 2.

8.5/10