Shrek brings home the crown

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2007)

I am someone who looks at reviews, especially official press reviews as a gage of how a movie is going to be. Good thing I don't let these reviews deter me from seeing a movie, otherwise I would have missed out on the delight that SHREK the THIRD is.
Picking right up from where SHREK 2 left off, we find our heroes dealing with the death of the king. Shrek is looked as the heir apparent. But there is another, Arthur, or "Artie", as he likes to be called, is away at school and Shrek, wanting to retreat back to his swamp, takes out to retrieve Artie so he and Feona can go back to just being themselves.
Across the board, the voice work is right on par with the previous entries. Timberlake is very good as the would be king. The pop references and pokes at the world of fairy tales is once again on display. I find it curious all of the press critics who say this film lacks what the other two films had. I was entertained just as much this go around as I was with the first 2. Unlike Spider-Man 3 that tried to throw too much into one movie, SHREK the THIRD is tightly paced and outside of Arthur and a few others, there is no over crowding of characters or storyline.
SHREK the THIRD, if anything, reaches for the heart more than the previous 2. I enjoyed that, as the fan base for these films has matured, it is only natural that the films themselves age, and in the case of SHREK the THIRD, they age gracefully.