MATT’S SUMMER MOVIE SERIES

Alright, so it took longer than anticipated but I am finally writing some reviews. I have done well in my goal to see the summer movies on my countdown. I’ve actually seen one every week besides one which was sort of busy covering the Memorial golf tournament. As usual, I don't bother to spell check or check for grammar so read some parts twice to truly understand. The reviews started with Spiderman 3 (look below). Slowly (but surely), I will be posting the reviews of the other movies. Movie #2 of the Summer Movie Series is:

SHREK 3
Directed by Raman Hui and Chris Miller
Starring the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, Justin Timberlake, Rupert Everett and John Cleese

Who didn’t love the first two Shrek movies? I mean, what other movies can make not only kids laugh, but teenagers, college students, and adults at the same time? That’s the mentality I had going into the third movie and though it wasn’t up to par with the first two, it still used the same magic formula that made the first two a success.
I’ll start with the negatives first though. As this series moves on (and the fourth is being produced right now and set to be released in 2009), it is clear to me that it won’t get much funnier. Reason being is that we know these characters now. Donkey was great in the first movie with his ADD personality and just flat-out idiotic nature. Shrek was great with his wise-cracks and sarcasm and occasional sexual innuendos. Pinocchio, Gingerbread Man and the others were great as well. Then, in the second movie, Puss ‘N Boots gave the audience something fresh to laugh at. Also, the addition of Far Far Away made for good times too.
In the third though, the only new character of note is Arthur (voiced by Timberlake) or as Shrek calls him, “Artie”. Let me tell you know, Artie isn’t funny. He’s actually really annoying, reminding me of the kids I used to babysit. Always whining, complaining and crying about how pathetic his life is or will be as the new king. I know this is part of the storyline but the movie really went slow through these parts. Plus, with Artie not being that compelling of a character, it needed something really funny tomake up for how annoying and boring his character was.
I will say this though, the movie continues to have its flat-out hilarious parts. Fiona’s baby shower is great, especially Sleeping Beauty who continually passes out and Snow White just giving away one of her seven dwarfs to the mother-to-be. The fairy-tale high school of Artie’s is funny as well as the movie writes do a great job of again mixing the present with the make-believe past. Also, Merlin the Wizard adds some comedy too.
The ending is weak in my mind, though I did enjoy watching Charming’s terrible acting performance. The promise for the fourth movie also scares me because if it just deals with Shrek’s kids, then I don’t know just how funny it can be. This trilogy so far has done well with the jokes, addition of new characters and finding ways to keep it fresh but with another coming in just 2 years, I just don’t know. For now though, kudos for three great Shrek movies. Let’s hope the fourth can only live up to the first three.

*** out of four