Reverb: The Official UTF Blog

Shrek and Fiona are back in this third installment of the Shrek movie franchise. Before seeing this movie, I accidentally ran across a movie review headline from a critic. I didn’t read it until after the movie, mainly because most movie critics and I do not see eye to eye about movies…especially Spider-Man 3. In any case, the whole gang is back, this time in Far Far Away. In 60 seconds or less, here’s my impressions of the film:

1. Shrek the Third is not as funny or entertaining as the first two films. I didn’t find myself laughing out loud as much (or as hard) as I did with the previous films. That doesn’t mean it’s not funny because it is, but some of the jokes intended to be funny fell flat with the audience. It seemed that the film’s writers were trying to hard for laughs.
2. The story line (a version of Camelot) for Shrek the Third is on the weak side. While Shrek and Shrek 2 borrowed from popular fairy tails and pulled it off brilliantly, the third installment did not do this as well. I also found the ending for the main plot of the film to be a bit disappointing and a bit too “peace, love, and happiness” for me.
3. Producers are already planning a fourth movie in the franchise. I think they should stop at this movie. I really don’t see where else they can go with the Shrek story. They should stop thinking about money and end the franchise before it turns into Superman III and IV.
4. Shrek the Third’s story is not as well thought out as the first two films. Again, that’s not to say that it’s not a good, entertaining movie. The bar was set very high after the first two films, and while my expectations weren’t enormously high, I did expect better.

Shrek the Third is a good but not necessarily perfect ending to Shrek and Fiona’s story. I would recommend seeing it, but for me, it’s not one of those films that you should rush out to go see. Apparently, other movie goers agreed because my theater was nowhere near as packed as it was for Spider-Man 3. Nevertheless, Shrek the Third was a good start to my weekend, and if you enjoyed the first two movies, go see it…just lower your expectations.

• Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
• Video Link: Shrek the Third Trailer
• Web Site Link: Shrek the Third