I've been away for ages but I'm back with avengence!
I've been away for ages but I'm back with avengence!
Member since:30.11.2005
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Over the last two weeks my youngest, Kyle has made his father and I sit through Shrek One and Shrek Two roughly 18 times. Now, I love the daft green ogre as much as the next demented mum, but I was starting to think bad thoughts whenever I heard that 5 letter name mentioned.
Out of sheer desperation if nothing else, we decided to take him to see Shrek 3 as soon as it was out. I don’t think Kyle slept for a week beforehand!
Directors: Chris Miller and Raman Hui Release Date: June 29th 2007 Production Team: DreamWorks Classification: PG Genre: Animated Family Comedy Run Time: 93 minutes Actors: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Bandaras, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake etc
>>>General Gist of things<<< The third of the Shrek Films, sees Shrek’s father/frog-in-law, the king on his deathbed telling him that as Fiona’s husband he is next in line to the throne, unless Fiona’s distant cousin Arthur can be found. Shrek, not being one for formalities sets off with Donkey and Puss in Boots to track down Arthur to bring him back as Far Far Away’s new King.
Prince Charming meanwhile, is feeling bitter and resentful of Shrek’s growing popularity and persuades all the fairytale baddies to mount a revolt taking over the palace and ultimately, the kingdom of Far Far Away.
Will Shrek return in time to save his bride and the people of Far Far Away? Will Charming and his evil cronies go on to rule the world? And what surprise does Fiona have in store for her big cuddly Ogre?
>>>Who are Dreamworks<<< copied from several other
of my DreamWorks reviews DreamWorks is the animation production and distribution powerhouse behind a string of box office hits including its biggest success the Shrek series as well as computer games and television programmes.
Originally, the project of Steven Spielberg, Jeff Katzenberg and David Geffen in 1994, DreamWorks was sold to Viacom at the end of 2005. DreamWorks is now the strong competitor of Pixar the before undisputed champion of all things animated.
>>>Characters/Voiceovers<<< Mike Myers as the green Scottish Ogre from the swamp is brilliant. Oddly considering it is an animated film, this role is surprisingly subdued compared to many of his other films. Shrek is a lovable beast who can really do no wrong. He is also the most sarcastic animated character ever created!
Cameron Diaz is fantastic in this although it may because we don’t have to look at her perfect legs, perfect smile and perfect bum for two hours. Without that distraction, she is a bright, funny and likeable character who is more than capable of looking out for herself. – Finally a good role model for young girls these days – as long as they can get past the green skin and trumpet ears…
Eddie Murphy is a chump but as the annoyingly talkative donkey sidekick to Shrek he is brilliant. He is side-splittingly funny and in this film makes the most from a script which failed to live up to its predicessors.
Puss in Boots who showed up in the 2nd film is played by Antonio Bandaras and is the charming and charmed cat who has a way with the ladies and a total lack of fear. He seems to be driven by the need to put his life on the line in the name of honour. His relationship with Donkey has progressed nicely, although it may be at the sacrifice of Shrek and Donkey.
And of course, Justin Timberlake (cue teenage girl screams) appears as Arthur the future king of Far Far Away. Arthur is a weedy nothing who gets picked on at school but who comes good in the end. I wanted this film to mark the world domination of Timberlake but I sadly his performance fell relatively flat. Many of his lines sounded like they were being read off the page instead of lived like the others managed.
>>>Script/Story<<< I loathe saying it, but sadly, a good portion of the magic that we have grown to expect from Shrek and his entourage didn’t make it to the third film. The quirky humour is somewhat lacking and there are only limited snappy one-liners. Opportunities for strong characters like Donkey and Puss in Boots were missed or diluted by the expanded cast.
It was very much like watching two films – Shrek on his quest to find Arthur, and Fiona at home battling for the kingdom. The relationship between the two was almost forgotten entirely. Donkey and Shrek’s usually fresh, witty and hilarious relationship seemed to have run its course. We see all the characters evolving and moving on with their lives which is what happens in real life. But this is Shrek and we want the same old lovable Ogre and his troupe of fairytale friends.
The theme was quite a bit more grown up with adult issues like relationship woes, new babies, unhappiness at work which (although Kyle loved it) makes it harder for kids to identify with.
The scene I found the funniest was when Sweet, angelic Snow White, singing a majestic little ditty showed the castle guards another side of her with the help of her forest friends. The accompanying music and wonderful expressions made this a great piece of film.
>>>Animation<<< As I have said before, you can’t really fault DreamWorks when it comes to animation. Whereas Pixzar tends to be more in tune with modern day graphic art, DreamWorks leans more towards the fairytale style, with brighter colours and less precision but more character and sentiment shining through. Again, the facial expressions make these films what they are for me. Take for instance the wonderfully sappy eyes of Puss in Boots – His big watery saucer eyes are almost a character of their own rendering enemies and audience members alike, totally defenseless to his charm.
The scale of the scene setting in this film is impressive, with attention to detail ensuring consistency with the previous two films in the series. It is great to get a fuller picture of the kingdom of Far Far Away – it tied in nicely with Shrek two simply expanding on what we already knew.
>>>Soundtrack<<< Music plays a big part of animated features these days. Without a catchy soundtrack a film is all but doomed in the current market. I live for the Karaoke scenes that end the Shrek films but on top of performances by the characters, the film is littered with some great music well matched to the individual scenes. There are some old classics like Live and Let Die by Wings, Led Zepplin classic, Immigrant Song and Do you remember Rock n’ Roll by the Ramones mixed in thoughtfully with some more modern performances by Black Eyed Peas and Damian Rice. Of course, the standard orchestra- based music used to highlight tension and plot changes has also been incorporated. >>>What we thought of it<<< Shrek the Third was a funny film and completely enjoyable. The boys loved it and their dad and I chuckled a way to each other as well. It was witty and imaginative, had great characters and was beautifully animated. Unfortunately it is hen you compare it to the first and second films in the series that it falls a bit flat. There was nothing new or inspirational in this film like there had been with the others. It felt like instead of creating a new and exciting film they simply recycled the last two. There were too many characters given too much focus, the storyline was a bit sketchy and the fabulous humour I had hoped for just didn’t live up to my expectations.
I would absolutely recommend going to see this, as it is great entertainment, but try to put the other films behind you to avoid disappointment.
>>>Trivia<<< >There are 1,373 characters in the final theatre scene with Prince Charming performing >There are 23 key fairy tale characters that appear throughout the film and a total of 4,378 generic characters.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Excellent review! I'm watching the film as I read this. So far, it's quite good!
arnoldhenryrufus 04.07.2007 15:30
looking forward to seeing this - lyn x
inbetweendaysx 04.07.2007 13:47
I might have to rent this out soon!! besides Ive sat through Shrek 1 and 2 like 10 times, thanks to a young next door neighbour!
Its great through.
Fantastic review x
It's not easy being an ogre, but Shrek finds it doubly difficult for an ogre like himself ... more
to fill in for a king when his father-in-law King Harold of Far, Far Away falls ill in this thirdShrek movie. Shrek's attempts to fulfill his kingly duties play l...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Jul 3rd, 2007
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