Starring Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Justin Timberlake, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Ian McShane
Written By: Aron Warner, Jeffrey Price, Peter Seaman
Directed By: Chris Miller, Raman Hui
Studio: Dreamworks
Buy on Amazon.com

I’ve been a big fan of the first two Shrek movies, but I had a strange feeling the third movie would be pushing it. I didn’t want the third movie to be some re-hashed movie where we saw everything already in the previous movies. While the movie didn’t meet my expectations, it still had plenty of laughs for kids and adults alike.

Shrek the Third starts out with King Harold of Far, Far Away getting sick and Shrek having to take over the Kingly duties. Having an Ogre be King is exactly what you would think it would be, disastrous. Once the King passes away, Shrek is force to continue being the King but he doesn’t want to be King. He wants to live in his swamp with his Wife Princess Fiona. But he needs to find a replacement first. They find out that the only living heir of the throne is a pimple faced, wimpy nerd named Artie (or Arthur). So Shrek, Donkey and Puss In Boots set out to find Artie and to make him a man and turn him into a King. Before Shrek sets out on another adventure, he’s told by Fiona that she is pregnant, so that’s something else for him to worry about. After Shrek is gone, Prince Charming invades the kingdom and makes himself the King. Princess Fiona and the other Princesses (who were having a baby shower), get imprisoned. But Charming and Captain Hook underestimate the Princesses, they may look pretty on the outside but they certainly can throw down when they need to. So you got Shrek, Donkey and Puss trying to get Arthur to be King, Donkey & Puss trade bodies because of dopey Merlin and Fiona is dealing with the invaders of Far Far Away. Plus that whole baby ogre thing as well.

I was disappointed with Shrek the Third but I still had a fun time watching it. There are a lot of the same jokes but there’s still some originality left in the film. I still think Shrek the Third could have been a lot better though. I would have liked to have seen more of the Far Far Away kingdom and those characters as oppose to the Artie storyline. The baby storyline has been done to death in movies so it was only a matter of time it was going to happen to the Shrek franchise. I think they should have used another villain in the movie this time around instead of Prince Charming again. Surely the writers could have come up with some mystical and fantasy creatures to battle against Shrek. But the 4th movie has already been green lighted so I just hope the writers put a lot more effort into that movie. It definitely seems like kids will like this movie more than adults, and I guess that’s all that matters in the end. It is a kid movie after all right? It’s a kid movie with teenagers at Worcestershire smoking in a carriage…hmmm. So maybe it’s not so kiddie after all?

Shrek The Third suffers the sequel syndrome. I thought the second film was great! This time around, the movie has a lot more characters to watch, and things get a little bit messier with the storyline. If the writing was more fine-tuned and simplified, perhaps Shrek The Third would have been funnier and overall..better. But if you enjoyed the movie, this DVD has some decent extras for you to watch. Most of the featurettes seem to be geared for children but there are a few promising things to watch after the movie. The Lost Scenes’ is an interesting featurette that shows the process of pitching an idea to the creative team of Shrek. You also got the typical behind the scenes stuff with interviews, some interesting goofs in the animation department and other things like that. The extras aren’t that great but it’s something to watch when the movie is over.

Features:
Artie’s Yearbook
Shrek’s Guide to Parenthood
Lost Scenes
Tech of Shrek
Big Green Goofs
Learn the Donkey Dance
Smash Ups: Make Your Own Video!
Merlin’s Magic Crystal Ball
Tournament Games
And many more Shrek-tivities!

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Stereo
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French

Favorite Scenes: Prince Charming invading, the princesses kicking butt, any scene with Puss in Boots!
Rating: PG
Running Time: 92 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: