“Shrek the Third” is the third of a trilogy of animated movies starring that lovable ogre named Shrek. But you already knew that. Mike Myers is back as the voice of Shrek. Chances are you already knew that, too. What you don’t know (or you wouldn’t be reading this)is whether or not “Shrek the Third” is as good as the first two.
This time Shrek has to find a new king for Far Far Away after Fiona’s dad, King Harold, croaks, literally. Before Shrek and sidekicks Donkey and Puss ‘N Boots (Eddie Murphy and Antonio Bandaras are back as well) leave on their quest to find Arthur, the rightful heir to the throne, Fiona tells him that he’s going to be a father, which shakes Shrek up a bit.
Both Arthur and the evil Prince Charming have more screen time than Shrek, which is a mistake. And the princesses, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauthy and Rapunzel, have supporting roles.
Overall, “Shrek the Third” is not as funny or exciting as Shrek’s one and two, though the animation this time is pretty great. It’s rated PG for a few fighting scenes and some crude but harmless ogre humor.
On The Official Kid Critic Reports Card, “Shrek the Third” gets a B. It’s on my list of best animated movies of 2007, but not in the top five.
Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic/entertainment reporter in 2006 at the age of 7. Jackson has written nearly 1,000 reviews of new releases. All together he has seen more than 1,500 films. In 2010, Jackson became the youngest person to win a NY Emmy Award, for his on-air movie reviews on Time Warner TV station, Capital News 9.
LCJ appears every Friday morning on WGNA-FM . His movie reviews are also posted on his website, his YouTube channel and the popular website Cultjer.com. He is also a contributing writer for Jerry Beck’s AnimationScoop.com. Jackson hosts the weekly internet pop culture news show “LCJ LIVE” (every Sunday at Noon ET). And “The LCJ Q&A Podcast” features interviews with celebrities and filmmakers. Among those who have joined LCJ on the show are comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried, “Wallace & Gromit” creator Nick Park, Emmy-winning game show host Todd Newton and Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.