Shrek the Third- Good not Great
Shrek the Third is a fun movie and definitely worth seeing. For this review, I don't have anything particularly sarcastic or ironic to say to amuse you with my subtle brilliance. I mean basically we are dealing with a kid's movie here. How many ironic comments can you really make about a kid's movie? However, on the other hand, all the Shrek movies are kid movies with lots of adult jokes and pop culture references.
Essentially, if you enjoyed the first two movies, I would say the film is worth checking out particularly in the theatre. I had the opportunity to see a HD screening on a DLP projector which was a very nice showcase for the interesting colors and visuals in a Shrek movie. However, although it was decent, I can't say I was blown away by the HD presentation. But, or course, its difficult to say if that was because of the quality of the movie itself or the standards of the HD presentation in the particular movie theatre where I viewed Shrek the Third.
I hate to give away much of the plot (in what is essentially a flm without much complexity in the way of storyline) but basically the movie deals with Shrek looking for a replacement to serve as king when his father-in-law passes away. Simultaneously, Shrek deals with fears and stresses of his impending fatherhood, and all the responsibility that comes with it. Perhaps these slightly boring sounding themes were part of the problem... not to say the movie was boring. Its just that the plot just wasn't particularly exciting- like everything else in the movie it was good, not great.
Whereas, I would rate the first two Shrek movies as an "A," I have to say that Shrek the Third scores a firm "B" grade. Although its still a fun ride and the new animated feature had some good laughs and surprises, the film is just not quite up to the quality of its predecessors. The laughs (while plentiful) are noticeably fewer, the plot is less interesting and the characters are just a bit less intriguing. But as you can see, I really liked the first two, so even with a lapse in quality, Shrek the Third is still good.
By the way, there is one outstanding highlight of the film towards the end where Snow White stages an attack with forest creatures to one of the tunes from Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. An absolutely awesome and visually compelling moment to say the least.
Grading
Story: B-
Acting: A
Visuals: A
Originality/Innovation: B
Enjoyability: B
Overall: B
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