Studio: Paramount Pictures Genre: Fantasy •
Romantic •
Comedy •
Family •
Animated Street Date: September 23, 2008 Director: Chris Miller Number of Discs: 1 MPAA Rating: PG Cast: • Eddie Murphy
• Cameron Diaz
• Mike Myers
• Rupert Everett
• Justin Timberlake
• Julie Andrews
• Amy Poehler
• Amy Sedaris
• John Cleese
• Antonio Banderas
• Ian McShane Running Time: 92 minutes Format: DVD Specs: Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Color
Screen Resolution: 1080p
Audio: ENGLISH: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1, FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1, PORTUGUESE: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese Special Features: • Other: Shrek's Guide to Parenthood
• Commentary: Meet the Cast
• Additional Scenes: Lost Scenes of Shrek the Third - The Fauxly Grail
• Additional Scenes: Lost Scenes of Shrek the Third - Hot Lunch
• Additional Scenes: Lost Scenes of Shrek the Third - Cyrano de Artie
• Other: Tech of Shrek 3
• Music Videos: Donkey Dance
• Other: Worcestershire Academy Yearbook
• Other: Big Green Goofs
• Trailers: Shrek Franchise
• Trailers: Charlotte's Web
• Trailers: DWA Jukebox
• Other: Merlin's Magic Crystal Ball
• Other: Get Up and Play PSA
• Other: Learn the Donkey Dance
• Other: How to be Green
• DVD Rom: Shrek Shmash Ups
• DVD Rom: Royal Tournament Games
• DVD Rom: Printables
• DVD Rom: Weblinks Version: BluRay Store Exclusives: Nope but look for a special deal towards the holidays with Shrek The Halls. Review: The film kicks off with the same tone as the first two, its silly and cheesy fun. The King croaks..literally! (yeah I know…I’m also betting 3 out of 5 critics use that lame joke)…wait hang on? Just why is he still a frog? You’d think they could find someone to turn him human once again…oh well his froggy death was pretty freakin funny so I can let that go. Before the end however In a moment Yoda would be proud of the King announces that there is another who can rule the kingdom and let Shrek off the royal hook, so it’s off to find Arthur for Shrek and the boys. But soon into the story it takes a far more serious turn as Shrek finds out Princess Fiona’s got an Ogre bun in the oven. Naturally he begins to worry about his parenting skills, but thanks to a smart script Shrek will get plenty of practice while he brings the immature Artie back to the land of Far Far Away to rule the kingdom.
Meanwhile Prince Charming has decided to stop slumming his way through dinner theater and gather up the villains of the land and throw a little coup d'état party at the castle…once they finish their fuzzy navels mind you. Being the dolt that he is of course the plan is a little lopsided, but comes complete with a Lando style betrayal.
On the road back Shrek’s entourage runs into a hippie style Merlin who not only gets them home in a flash but causes Donkey and Puss in Boots to switch bodies. There are some genuinely funny moments with this and it helps keep the fun-o-meter in the green. What really kicks things up is watching the princesses going all Charlie’s Angels on the bad guys, for my money they could have just made a really fun adventure based solely on these girls…with Puss in Boots as Charlie.
Without really needing to give you a spoiler warning Prince Charming’s plan is thwarted of course (it’s a kids movie try to contain your shock), and we get treated to a montage of Shrek and Fiona excelling as parents with three happy green goon-headed tots.
Overall the movie is enjoyable and fun for humans and Ogre’s alike, and while it really tries to add some depth to the characters and franchise it does lose a little bit of its silly charms. For you parents out there you can rest easy knowing you won’t be pandered to or mind numbed into submission. Buy It Now: Rating: