The story begins on a bit of a down note,
as the Frog King (John Cleese) has passed away, and names
his son-in-law Shrek (Mike Myers) as heir to the throne. The
death throws the kingdom into turmoil because Shrek doesn’t
want the job, so he sets out to bring cousin Artie (Justin
Timberlake) back to the kingdom to rule instead.
Meanwhile, Prince Charming (Rupert
Everett) joins forces with Captain Hook and the other fairy
tale villains, staging a palace coup. It’s up to Princess
Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and the rest of the princesses to save
the day with a very funny version of Charlie’s Medieval
Angels.
Oh yeah, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss
in Boots (Antonio Banderas) tag along, and although they get
a body swap subplot, they are mostly there to add humorous
asides to the already jam-packed story.
“Shrek III” has a lot of humor, much of
it coming so fast that it will take repeat viewings to catch
all the gags. I’m still a huge fan of the Gingerbread Man,
and his origin montage makes for my favorite moment in the
film. Others may get a kick out of Artie’s high school,
which plays like “The OC” of ye olden days. Puss in Boots
has the best sight gags while Shrek and Fiona provide plenty
of potty humor that will appeal to young fans. The film is
very funny, but the film doesn’t seem fresh any more. There
have been so many fractured fairy tale movies lately that
“Shrek III” has been robbed of its novelty.
Freshness issues aside, the animation is
superb, the voice acting is uniformly great, and the action
is grand enough that families will be thrilled by the
continuing adventures of the not-so-jolly green ogre and his
silly friends. “Shrek III” is a lot of fun and should be a
huge hit, even if it’s a bit of a letdown from the silly fun
of the first two films.
DVD Picks
ROCKFORD FILES: Season Four - Universal
Jim Rockford, an ex-con pardoned for an
armed robbery he didn’t commit, is a private investigator
specializing in closed cases. He is sometimes assisted by
his father Joseph (a.k.a. Rocky), his best friend Sgt.
Dennis Becker of the LAPD, his lawyer/girlfriend Beth
Davenport, and his former cell-mate Evelyn “Angel” Martin.
This show is one of the best in the “cop show craze” from
the seventies.
Running from 1974 to 1980, Private
Detective Jim Rockford has shared his adventures with TV
audiences worldwide. James Garner continues in his role with
a superb supporting cast of talented actors including Joe
Santos and Noah Beery. Highlights in this season include
“Requiem for a Funny Box”, “Forced Retirement”, “A Deadly
Maze” and “The House on Willis Avenue”. Some of the guest
stars in this season include Rita Moreno, Tom Selleck,
Robert Loggia and Larry Hagman. This is the kind of show
that has “staying power” to be enjoyed for years to come.
Season four contains all 21 episodes on
five discs presented in Full Screen format with Dolby
digital sound. The packaging is attractive with an episode
guide on the inside cover. Extras include a feature
“America’s Top Sleuths and a bonus episode from season five
titled “White on White and Nearly Perfect.”
RAWHIDE: Season Two, Vol. One - Paramount
Gil Favor is trail boss of a continuous
cattle drive; he is assisted
by Rowdy Yates. The crew runs into
characters and adventures along the way. Rawhide ran from
1959 to 1966 and is considered to be one of the
“quintessential” TV Westerns of all time. Clint Eastwood,
Eric Fleming, Paul Brinegar, Steve Raines, James Murdock and
Sheb Wooley continue the adventures of the trail riders with
this season two, volume one set. The stories are inventive
and showoff the classic
Western flavor. Some of this seasons
highlights include “Incident at Jacob’s Well” involving the
team in search of water, “Incident of the Day of the Dead”
putting the team against a wild stallion that has killed all
that rode her and “Incident in the Valley of the Shadow”
involving a search for a girl kidnapped by Indians. This
show keeps getting better by the season! The DVD contains 16
episodes on four discs. The inner jacket has a synopsis of
each episode. All the episodes are in Full Screen Format
with Dolby Digital sound. Sadly, this season got split up
into to volumes, which makes more expensive to buy. The
artwork isn’t as impressive as season one, but still
warrants a purchase.
MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: Season Two - Sony
When an Indian village is threatened by
ex-Confederate soldiers, several villagers head out to seek
help. They recruit seven men, each with unique skills, who
return to the village and take on the raiders.
Following this, the men take up residence
in a small town, making their skills available to those in
need. Continue adventures of gunfighter Chris Larrabbe and
his band of men as they maintain order in the brutal West.
Michael Biehn reprises his role as Chris with a talented
supporting cast including Ron Perlman and Laurie Holden. The
stories are not too bad but tend to follow the “TV formula”
for a 45 minute show. The series begins to lose its flare
during these final episodes. Elmer Bernstein’s music is used
in moderation, but not enough leaving me feeling as if
something is missing. As modern-day Westerns go, this one is
tolerable, but missed the mark as a great show. This DVD set
contains the final 13 episodes of the series. The episodes
are presented in Full Screen Format with Dolby Digital
Sound.
I wouldn’t break down any doors for this
series.
COMING TO AMERICA: BluRay - Paramount
This fantastical fairy tale stars Eddie
Murphy as Prince Akeem, a pampered African prince who is
yearning to be self-sufficient in his extremely opulent
society, where his every whim is catered to. When Akeem
turns 21 he defies the wishes of his kingdom and refuses to
marry the beautiful bride who has been chosen for him.
Instead, he sets out for America to find true love with his
trusty sidekick, Semmi (Arsenio Hall). Determined to appear
common, the pair arrive in Queens, New York, and quickly
have to adapt to a world where they are no longer royalty
and can’t seem to find a modern woman who suits the prince’s
tastes--until he meets Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley), the
lovely daughter of Cleo McDowell (John Amos), who owns
McDowell’s restaurant, a fast-food restaurant suspiciously
like McDonald’s. Akeem and Semmi get jobs at McDowell’s and
set about charming the unsuspecting Lisa. As the romance
blossoms, Akeem has an increasingly difficult time hiding
his true identity, especially when his royal parents (James
Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair) and their entourage arrive in
New York, eager to return their only heir to Africa. John
Landis’s comedy is an intelligent, funny movie that shows
off the myriad talent of Murphy and Hall.
