SHREK THE THIRD

RYAN: In a last minute happy occurrence, we were invited to an advanced screening of “Shrek the Third,” this summer’s second huge blockbuster.

CAROLINE: Evidently all it takes is the promise of a free screening to get me to see an animated movie that I don’t care about.

RYAN: I was so thrillified that you came to see this with me! And it was interesting to note that this film belongs to Justin Timberlake.

CAROLINE: He has a much bigger part that I expected. And I’d give second billing to Rupert Everett. Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz are but an afterthought.

RYAN: Yeah, this is not so much a Shrek film as it is a film about Far, Far Away and the fight to become king.

CAROLINE: I dozed off a couple times.

RYAN: [laughs’ I must be honest and say I was a bit underwhelmed by the film. I did enjoy it, but I’m a little bit surprised that it had less of the irreverent humor that the two previous Shreks had. There was less in it for the adults this time, though there still were a couple chuckles.

CAROLINE: I squeaked out one or two, but for the most part I was counting the minutes till it was over. And mercifully, it’s only about eighty minutes.

RYAN: It’s not as good as the first two Shrek films, and I’m surprised at that because I read that the producers had enough story to make up to seven Shrek films; so I figured the first four or five would be great. That being said, the animation in “Shrek the Third” is brilliant.

CAROLINE: It’s definitely amazing how great animation looks these days. But I said it before and I’ll say it again, this is a children’s movie.

RYAN: This one is definitely more for the kids than the first two Shreks. But that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it because it’s still a fun fairy tale. And I loved the princesses.

CAROLINE: They were cute, but they weren’t in it that much. No adult should be seeing this film unless dragged to it by a child.

RYAN: I completely disagree. If you’re into great animation, or if you saw the first two and you want to keep up your Shrek-ness, go see it. The music is really great too.

CAROLINE: Now you’re just digging.

RYAN: Whatever. The way they use music is really fun and some scenes are almost like a musical, which is cool.

CAROLINE: I enjoy a good musical, but I don’t think the music scenes in this movie redeemed it for me.

RYAN: Bottom line?

CAROLINE: I stand by what I said in Trailer Tuesdays.

RYAN: It’s not a perfect Shrek but I recommend seeing it in the theater because it’s still big and exciting and will be king at the box office this weekend. And if there’s a fourth Shrek? Who are we kidding, I’ll be there on opening day.