Movie Review: "Shrek the Third"

The Shrek trilogy is one of the most popular movies with all age groups. Kids love the talking ogres and animals. Adults love the in jokes and pop culture references that go right over the kids heads. 2007 is also the summer of 3-quels (Spiderman, Pirates, Shrek, Bourne Ultimatium not to mention Harry Potter, Fantastic Four, Die Hard 4) I chose to see Shrek because Pirates hadn't come yet at the time and I refuse to see Spiderman thanks to my Kirsten Dunst boycott (although Tobey Maguire AND Topher Grace in the same movie is very tempting). The third movie deals with Shrek and the possibility of becoming a dad mixed with Prince Charming taking revenge and taking hostage of the kingdom of Far Far Away. Shrek plus buddies must find the next heir to rule the kingdom.

I like how Shrek is worried about how he's going to be as a dad. I really did like how he and Fiona's dad made up in the end and her dad called him son. Quite touching actually. I felt that Fiona wasn't fully developed as a character as she had been in the past two movies. I personally liked her better a a human but that's just me. She just seemed to do a lot of running around in this movie and didn't have much interaction with Shrek.

My thoughts on Artie? Well I must say he looked a LOT like Nysnc Justin Timberlake. I was almost thinking that he was going to do a song and dance number. Donkey is always a favorite for comic buddy relief (funny how one can say now Donkey played by Academy Award nominee Eddie Murphy). And I love his halfbreed kids, too cute. Everyone has a favorite character and mine is Puss in Boots. Antonio Banderas is wonderfully picked for this role. Puss gets the best one liners, the funniest scenes, and is just darn cute. I loved it especially when Donkey and Puss have their bodies switched. Donkey with big eyes just does not give off the same effect. Supposedly Puss is supposed to get his own movie. Definitely am going to see that one.

One scene which was supposed to be sad but I found hilarious was the funeral of Fiona's dad. Why? Because the frogs were singing Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die". I absolutely love that song (it's the best Roger Moore James Bond movie too btw) but for the life of me I have no idea why they picked it. It was just so random but of course the kiddies won't realize who it was. I also love the gingerbread man so his "life flashes before eyes" bit made me choke on my popcorn from laughing. I did like seeing the other princesses do their bit, the Snow White scene with the Led Zeppelin song got quite a few chuckles from the adults in the audience.

All in all I'd say this movie ranks #2 in the Shrek series for me. I still like Shrek 2 the best, but if you're a Shrek fan you won't want to miss this one. There is some crude humor that justifies the PG rating

(Puss in Boots: [Puss says to Shrek as the ship leaves] Well my friend, you are royally... [loud horn blast]

heh heh

but the message about friendship and family is very strong here. If you don't see this in the theater, definitely rent it. I recommend it more for teens and adults who will enjoy the in jokes and references better than the kids.