Shrek the Third

Shrek the Third is the latest in the Shrek series of movies. A cute, fluff, 3D cartoon, Shrek is a good find for five year olds.

When King Harold (John Cleese) of Far Far Away is on his death bed, he asks Shrek (Mike Myers) if he will take over as ruler of Far Far Away. When Shrek wavers, King Harold offers an alternative, Fiona's Cousin Arthur (Justin Timberlake). Shrek, Donkey, (Eddie Murphy) and Puss (Antonio Banderas) head out to find Arthur. Just as he is pulling out of the harbor, Fiona (Cameron Diaz), tells Shrek that she is pregnant. While Shrek is off to find the next king of Far Far Away he attempts to come to terms with the news that he will be a dad. Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) attempts to take over Far Far Away while Shrek is gone. He brings with him all of the fairytale villains.

Shrek the Third is packed with entertaining little scenes. There is an amusing scene where the gingerbread man recounts his life. Pinocchio has a very funny scene where he steals the show. There are also several scenes where the fairy tale princesses refuse to wait for rescue and take it upon themselves. Any scene with the fairytale babies will make you go "Aaaah." The dragon/ donkey children made me smile every time they are on the screen.

There is a character you meet later in the movie who I think steals the show. The character used to teach Arthur but has gone a little crazy. Everything he does is just plain off kilter. I expected him to start singing "What a lovely bunch of coconuts."

The quality of the animation in Shrek the Third is surprisingly inconsistent. The scenery, the lighting and shading is marvelous. There is a scene with a horse that made me want to reach out and stroke its hind. The textures of all of the characters and scenery makes them look rich with depth and beautifully sensory. Dreamworks obviously made the way the characters look a priority. They did not, however, make the way the characters move a priority.

All of the characters that walk upright have a rigid stiffness that makes believing they are real a little challenging at times. The characters move like wooden artists models, unnaturally swinging from the joints in a way that would probably hurt a human being. Their steps are labored, lumbered, and even for Shrek, heavy. If they put half as much effort into the way the characters move as they did the way they look, the movie would have flowed considerably better.

When I saw Shrek the Third, the theater was packed full of children, some too small for elementary school. I was surprised that there was nearly no fussing, crying or screaming through the movie. Most of the children were completely enthralled by the movie.

Shrek the Third attempts several morals of the story. Shrek needs to embrace fatherhood, the women are all about taking care of themselves, there is talk of how one becomes a villain, violence is not the answer, and the moral that runs most through the movie is "you are the only one in your way." I think most of the themes will be easy enough for a child to grasp except Shrek's trek to fatherhood. Being a father should be the last thing on a five year old's mind.

The double edged sword with any movie packed with celebrities is that their celebrity is a distraction. The movie has a smorgasbord of recognizable voices. At times the myriad of familiar voices distracted me while I tried to place where I had heard them before. Especially difficult for me to place was Rupert Everett and as a consequence, every time he was on screen, I was trying to figure out where I had heard the voice before.

There is nothing particularly impressive about Shrek the Third but I didn't find anything monstrously awful either. This movie is definitely not one that parents will enjoy watching over and over again but then again it is a movie for children. As a children's movie, I think it is just fine.

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LaRae Meadows