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SYNOPSIS:
Get ready for Thirds - the greatest fairytale never told continues
with a whole new hilarious comedy of royal proportions. When
his frog-in-law suddenly croaks, Shrek embarks on another
whirlwind adventure with Donkey and Puss in Boots to find
the rightful heir to the throne. Everyone's favourite cast
of character is back along with a magical misguided Merlin,
an awkward Arthur, a powerful posse of princesses and a bundle
of unexpected arrivals. Only Shrek can tell a tale where everyone
lives happily ever laughter!
MOVIE
REVIEW
Movie trailers can do wonders. A good trailer with
smart editing and scripting can contain the best bits of the
movie without giving away everything, and still make everyone
want to pay to watch the entire picture in the cinema. When
we saw the movie trailer for this second sequel to the 2002
Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature, we thought
it was funny. The sights of Puss in Boot’s signature
droopy eyes, Princess Fiona and her gang of fighting princesses
and Shrek’s rather cute green offspring made us giggle
a bit.
But
alas, that’s about it - The funniest moments of the
movie were in the trailer, making the rest of the movie really
bland.
This
installment of the hit movie sees the green ogre (Mike Myers)
having to locate the dead King’s son to take over the
kingdom. Together with his pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and
Puss (Antonio Banderas), the trio begins a treacherous journey
to find Artie (Justin Timberlake). Meanwhile, Fiona (Cameron
Diaz) gathers a group of damsels-not-in-distress to fight
off the unscrupulous Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) who
is eyeing the throne.
Characters
you are familiar with from the first two movies are back in
this one. And their familiar antics are back too, hence having
nothing original or fresh to offer throughout the movie’s
92-minute runtime. The animation may be top notch in terms
of the technology used, but the result just does not sparkle
and make you sit up and go “wow”.
Maybe
it’s the tried and tested jokes that do not shy away
from poops, vomit, dull pop references and physical humor.
Maybe it’s the overcrowded gang of characters that do
not leave any lasting impression. Maybe it’s the lack
of bright song-and-dance numbers. Maybe it’s the not
too charming looks of the characters. Call us superficial,
but we’ll take Disney’s prettier princesses anytime.
Credit
does go to the actors who sound like they had one hell of
a time voicing their characters. They inject their fun-loving
side to the characters, be it the grouchy Shrek, the bright
and cheery Fiona, the gutless Artie, the cheeky Donkey or
the suave Puss. For the record, we loved Banderas and Murphy’s
end credit song “Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf
Again)”. They would have beaten Timberlake hands down
if the filmmakers had decided to make Artie break into a tune.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains an
excellent palette of special features that will keep the young
ones occupied for a long, long time.
Worcestershire
Academy Yearbook – Get to know Artie and his
friends in this detailed, but rather pointless catalogue which
introduces you to each individual’s clubs/interests,
dedication, bequeath, greatest desire and personal quote.
Everything is recited with a “th”, for example,
Artie says: “Sticks and stones may breakth my bones,
which is why I runth away”.
Big
Green Goofs – The two-minute clip is put together
with scenes gone wrong on the computer. Blue wigs, hair growing
out of the eyes and a stationary Puss – they are indeed
quite ugly to look at.
Lost
Scenes – There are three scenes which didn’t
make it to the final cut. The 18 minutes are presented by
the artists who are pitching them to an audience. They include
Artie’s journey to the Holy Grail with Shrek, Artie
at the cafeteria and Shrek stalks Artie when he refuses to
be king.
Donkey
Dance – See Donkey dance in this brief 30-second
clip.
Meet
the Cast – The 11-minute feature has the voice
actors talking about their roles in the movie. Timberlake
calls Artie the quintessential teenager and Murphy says by
having him on board, he is bringing the sexy back to the movie.
Shrek’s
Guide to Parenthood – Here, you can hear the
advice dished by different characters for Shrek and Fiona.
The advices are accompanied by cute graphics. Donkey says:
“If they cry, give them a present. If they whine, give
them a present. If they get sick, give them a present. If
they say they love you, give them two presents. If they don’t
like their presents, give them some waffles.” Well said.
Tech
of Shrek – The 10-minute feature (presented
by HP, DreamWorks and AMD, no less) chronicles how the technology
has advanced over the three movies. Technology has made the
animators’ jobs easier to create the vision of the film.
DreamWorks
Animation Video Jukebox – You can listen to
songs and watch clips from movies like Madagascar, Flushed
Away, Over the Hedge and the other two Shrek films in this
feature. The sight of Missy Elliot as a hip-hop fish and Christina
Aguilera as a big-headed jellyfish singing “Car Wash”
in Shark Tale still tickles us.
Previews
– Trailers of Over the Hedge and Charlotte’s Web
are included in this section.
DreamWorks
Kids – There are three features for the kids
in this section. “Merlin’s Magic Crystal Ball”
is a silly feature where you can think of a yes or no question
and then get Merlin to answer your query – we wonder
how many kids will believe in this. The four-minute “How
to Be Green” tells kids how to conserve water and energy
so we can save the Earth from dying. The two-minute “Learn
the Donkey Dance” has specific instructions like jumping,
strutting, sliding and moon-walking so that kids can learn
how to dance like, err, a donkey.
DVD
Rom Shrektivities – In this section which works
on your PC, there is the “Shrek Shmash Ups” feature,
where you can edit your own clip using footage, music and
sound effects from the movie – very innovative activity.
There are five games in the “Shrek Royal Tournament
Games” feature where you can have countless hours of
fun on your computer. Check out the tetris-like “Eyeball
Dropper” and the brainless but hilarious “Tickle
Fight”. In the “Printables” feature, you
get activities like coloring pages, magic tricks (with balloons
and bubbles) and ogre yoga (taught by Fiona) – use a
color printer for best effects. There are also “Weblinks”
which link you to the sites of Shrek the Third and DreamWorks
Kids.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer is wonderfully crisp and
clear, while there are English, Cantonese and Mandarin 5.1
Dolby Digital audio tracks to choose from.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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