Shrek the Third

Ah, what an adorable movie! Of course, watching it with my 7 year old daughter made it all the more adorable, but truly, it was an enjoyable film and did not disappoint.

All our favorite characters are back, of course, and Donkey stole the show again. No one, and I mean no one, could have done Donkey better than Eddie Murphy. Shrek's character has mellowed somewhat from the grumpy friendless ogre in the original, but he still has a slew of great one-liners, many of which he saves for the climax of the plot. Fiona was a little less of a player, although she does manage to galvanize the princesses of Far Far Away into a force to be reckoned with. Sleeping Beauty was so well animated and well played...a narcoleptic Princess in the face of eminent danger is always going to be funny.

Favorite scenes...the "croaking" scene (one of the best death scenes EVER), Shrek's nightmare, Pinnochio's verbal adeptness, and the whole bit where Donkey and Puss do a "Freaky Friday" sort of body exchange midway through the movie.

The only critcisms I have are that the pacing was a little off...the film started off with a ton of great humorous moments, one right after the other, but then flagged a little when it was necessary to build the plot. This happened a few times throughout the film, but overall, there weren't too many flat moments. I also was a little disappointed that Shrek's uncouth characteristics were capitalized on instead of his trademark grumpiness.

Pluses were the animation, the addition of new characters (Merlin is outstanding), numerous references to pop-culture (see you can pick up references to Mary Poppins, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and the Six Million Dollar man),and an outstanding soundtrack. Oh, and slapstick humor in animation form is always a winner...how else can a half a ballroom burn down due to a chain of events that begins when Shrek's royal clothing begins to come undone?

The moral was well communicated as well...we live up to who we are, not who others say we are. I loved it. It fits with the theme of my life lately...seek out why God has created you and who He's created you to be and live up to it, regardless of the nay-sayers in your life.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars...or some such rating that puts it in the higher than average category. It's definitely worth paying to see in the theater AND owning on DVD.