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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: May 18, 2007 Distributor: Dreamworks Director: · Chris Miller · Raman Hui Cast: · Mike Myers · Cameron Diaz · Eddie Murphy · Antonio Banderas Related Sites: ·IMDb: Shrek the Third ·Cinema Spider - Shrek the Third
Grade: A-
Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy) disturbs the peace of Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) and Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) in "Shrek the Third."
The “summer of the threes” shifts into second gear on May 18th with the release of “Shrek the Third,” and our ride through the blockbuster season picks up a considerable amount of speed with this wonderful film. Directed by Chris Miller and co-director Raman Hui, “Shrek the Third” features state of the art digital animation that is absolutely breathtaking, and a clever story that is loaded with messages not only for kids, but adults as well.
In this third installment of the “Shrek” franchise, our hero (voice of Mike Myers) is facing the prospect of becoming king of Far Far Away. This doesn’t sit well with the big green guy, and he acknowledges to himself the fact that he is simply not the right one to assume the throne from King Harold (John Cleese). Adding to Shrek’s woes is his impending fatherhood, as his beloved Fiona (Cameron Diaz) is pregnant. Dealing with things in turn, Shrek’s one hope of avoiding becoming king lies with a young nephew of Harold, Arthur, who is at a place called Worcestershire (like the sauce!).
Shrek, Puss n’ Boots (Antonio Banderas), and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) board a ship to sail to Worcestershire in order to fetch the young Arthur (voice of Justin Timberlake), but find the lad to be less than thrilled by the prospect of becoming royalty. Nevertheless Shrek and company take the boy back to Far Far Away, where the plot has been thickening considerably. Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) has lured many of the characters who were losers in the original fairy tale stories, folks like Captain Hook (voice of Ian McShane), and the Evil Queen (from “Snow White,” voice of Susan Blakeslee), and convinced them that they could band together to create a world where they come out on top.
I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but let us just say that “Happily Ever After, After All” isn’t necessarily a good concept if you’re the ones who thought things were fine after a simple “Happily Ever After.”
Sure, “Shrek the Third” is a kids movie, as it has overt messages aimed at them, but there is an important idea buried within the film. That idea is to make sure your dream is really something within your reach, and truly leads you to happiness. I think too many of us think we want something but when we finally get it, we realize it wasn’t what we really wanted. We have to be honest with ourselves first and foremost. This is heavy stuff for a kids film. The fact that the writers credited with story and screenplay, in alphabetical order, Andrew Adamson, Howard Gould, Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, William Steig, J. David Stern, David N. Weiss and Jack Zack worked hard to create something of value impresses me, and I thank them for their effort with this film.
The soundtrack for “Shrek the Third” is, like the film, remarkable in many ways. Imagine Snow White belting out the intro to Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song,” and you get the idea. There are other musical gems imbedded within “Shrek the Third,” and how they are used to amplify the moments in which they appear is the stuff of people gleefully playing with a toy they love. That is the best part of “Shrek the Third,” the warm and omnipresent sense of family, generated by the skillful direction and the obviously warm relationships between the cast and crew.
I am gratified to see a film as good as “Shrek the Third” is still something that is possible not only with the franchise, but within the creative community. There is something fresh and new about “Shrek the Third,” despite being the third film of a series. It is arguably better than the 2 previous “Shrek” films, and the prospect of a fourth film seems appealing now. It opens everywhere on May 18th, so go see it as soon as you can.
