HD DVD Review: Shrek the Third

THE MOVIE: 3 stars out of 5

The third installment in the Shrek series and my least favorite of the three arrived on home video on November 13, 2007. The film stars the usual cast of characters and adds a new character, Arthur, voiced by Justin Timberlake. Briefly, this film takes up where Shrek II left off, with Shrek and Fiona living in Far, Far Away and longing to return to their swamp. However, fate intervenes and Fiona’s father, the King, takes ill and passes away, leaving Shrek first in line for the throne. Naturally, Shrek has no interest in being King and sets off with Donkey and Puss in Boots to find the next person in the line of succession, somewhat predictably named Arthur, and bring him back to be king. While they are away, Charming returns with a band of thugs and assumes control, waiting for Shrek to return so that he can finally do him in.

As I noted previously, this is my least favorite of the three Shrek films with the original being the best by far. The humor which worked so well in the first becomes rather tiring the third time around. The film essentially repeats the same gags that were done in the first two but not nearly as well. The humor is predictable and juvenile. While I enjoy juvenile humor, it was carried off better in the first two installments. It is truly unusual for the third film in a series of films to be as good as the first two and Shrek 3 suffers the same fate in this regard as did Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 earlier in the year. While all three did well at the box office, they were all rather lackluster films. It would be great if all third installments were the best in the bunch like was the case with the Indiana Jones Trilogy and The Bourne series. Alas, such was not the case here. Sometimes it is just better to stop at number 2 or even better, let number 1 stand on its own.

THE VIDEO: 5 stars out of 5

While I have reservations regarding the quality of the film, I have no such reservations about the video quality. This is a stellar transfer, every bit as good as Ratatouille and Cars released on Blu-Ray. The film was encoded using VC-1 and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and boasts great colors and astounding clarity and detail. The texture of Shrek’s skin and the face of the Pinocchio character are amazing as are the backgrounds, clothing, etc. Blacks are excellent as well. There is really nothing to complain about with this transfer, it is that good.

THE AUDIO: 4 stars out of 5

While the video is excellent, the same can’t be said of the audio. Presented in Dolby Digital Plus, the audio on this disc is surprisingly flat and for want of a better description, unexciting. Would it have sounded better with Dolby True HD? Who knows? All I know is that I have heard Dolby Digital Plus sound much better. While the dialogue is clear and well presented in the mix, the overall sound field is flat with little air and less dynamic flare than one would have expected. The overall sound of the audio track can best be described as muted. Bass is only OK and never really kicks in. One never feels totally immersed in the sound field as was the case with Cars and Ratatouille. I had really hoped for a better sounding audio track on this release.

IN CONCLUSION

If you loved the first two Shrek films, you will want to consider purchasing the third, if for the video quality alone. However, as far as the actual film is concerned, I would rate it as a rental.

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