It's Not Easy Being King

Movie Review: Shrek the Third
½


Something for everyone, but not as much as the previous films in the franchise. Shrek always delivers with the right amount of fairy tale characters mixed with kid and adult humor.

This time around, Shrek is called upon to play king while his father-in-law, King Harold is ill. Suddenly, Shrek realizes that he is expected to be the heir to the throne of Far, Far Away. Not willing to leave his life of swampiness, he sets out on a journey to find Arty (or Wart for the King Arthur fans) who is the only other living relative. Shrek sets sail with Donkey and Puss in Boots to a prep school to help find the outcast that would be king.

Meanwhile, Princess Fiona bands together her princess buddies to rise up against Prince Charming's coup d'etat. Prince Charming takes an odd turn as a woosy villain for Shrek, by deciding to band together with the other fairy tale villains in order to "win for once." This was kind of a let down as there wasn't a feel of peril for our heroes this time around - the "battle" was anti-climactic.

Honestly, the movie was cute, but just didn't entertain me as much as the previous 2 movies. The kids will love it and there are some jokes for the adults worked in (can you say Abercrombie & Witch?), but the 80 minutes seemed more like 180 - which is never a good sign.

The highlight for me was when I realized that Lancelot (a bully at the prep school) was voiced by none other than hottie John Krasinski (cutie Jim from The Office). I had no idea he was doing a voice, but it was a fun surprise. I can't help that I am such a geek when it comes to voice talent.

Folks, you won't be disappointed in this movie at all if you are looking to escape into a land far, far away for an hour and a half. This delivers, but just not as well as their predecessors.

Currently listening :
A Beautiful Lie
By 30 Seconds to Mars
Release date: By 30 August, 2005

A Pirate's Life for Me

So I am back to posting movie reviews. While I am WAY behind on seeing movies, I haven't posted reviews about the last dozen I have seen. My bad! So here goes, a whole lot of them. I am starting with the most recent as that one probably interests you all the most! So here goes:


Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End



Now, the irony here is that the last review I posted was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - crazy to think it has been that long since I have posted a review. What's worse is that I actually have seen movies since last July, but didn't make the time to review them. Also, note my new rating system above.

First, let me start by telling you not to believe all the reviews for this movie so far. Those folks have clearly lost sight of the child inside of them because this movie was the perfect ending to a great trilogy!

Now, I will say that Jack Sparrow is not prominent in this movie (how could he be, since he has been trapped in Davy Jones' Locker all year), but honestly the movie was great without him being in every scene.

We picked up a short time after the end of Dead Man's Chest to find our reluctant heroes (Elizabeth, Will, Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl) in search of a map to get them to Jack and Davy Jones' Locker. Right off the bat there are some great action scenes, complete with explosions, sword fights and a little gun play. This is just what I was hoping for. Yun-Fat Chow was excellent as Captain Sao Feng, but he was barely in the movie - such a disappointment for me as I absolutely love watching this man on screen. He commanded the scenes he was in, but truly, it was not enough. However, the path of this character really seemed to be laid out to allow Keira Knightley to run away with her part this time around.

In the past, Elizabeth Swann has been a bit whiney and too much the damsel in need of rescuing – c'mon Hollywood, it's 2007 and we want to see women rescuing the men occasionally, no matter what era the movie is set in! Finally, Keira stepped up! She stole the show in a lot of scenes (how many weapons can that tiny girl hide on her person, really!). I was really impressed with her this time around.

Next up – Orlando Bloom. Thank goodness he is pretty! I will say that in this movie, I did not notice his lack of acting as much, but I think I was distracted by the sexual energy just jumping right off the screen from him. He was very much the Dread Pirate Roberts meets Dirk Pitt this time around…yum!

As for the rest of the cast, I think that Bill Nighy as Davy Jones and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa owned the entire film – not to mention all the action and mayhem.

There were twists and turns (some obvious, some not) and a lot of old time pirate history, a nod to the Disneyland ride that started it all, with some mythology thrown in for good measure. Sure, you had to use your brain while watching the movie, but that is what makes it SO great. This wasn't all mindless fighting and action scenes with a little comedy thrown in (hello, Keith Richards), it was a good, all-around, something-for-everyone movie!

So yes, this is a long movie (2 hours and 45 minutes) and is a little slow in parts. However, if you are looking for great action, excellent special effects and a little Jack Sparrow to round it out – this is the movie to see!