Breakin all the rules ozzy Come on

Breakin all the rules ozzy

Come on. Alexander M. Walker Knows Things, Great Things on April 29, 2011 at 5:53 am Overall a solid set of films save for The Third, and a good boxset for hi-def, December 2, 2010 The Shrek series started like a breath of fresh air. A non-Disney cartoon came along slinging a sarcastic take on the traditional fairytale and gave us a film that parents enjoyed just as much as their kids while simultaneously bringing two of its stars Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and their careers breakin all the rules ozzy from the edge of obscurity even if they did return there shortly after. It was just the kick in the pants the animated children s film genre needed at least in breakin all the rules ozzy of humor and it seemed like Dreamworks s ogre franchise had a bright future. Unfortunately the series couldn t keep up the momentum and the tricks that made the first flick feel fresh, felt tired by the third installment. To make matters worse, it was at this point that Dreamworks pushed Shrek into marketing overdrive and they introduced ogre babies only to hit the undo button with the fourth Shrek film. It s admirable that Dreamworks saw where it had made a mistake and remedied it, but it also breakin all the rules ozzy their hand and ended the franchise. Shrek: The Whole Story has all of the Shrek films on their own Blu-ray discs packed with a rather healthy dose of extra features. Before we get into the breakdown of each disc s extras, let s do a quick recap of each of the movies, their highs and lows, and how the franchise as a whole pans out. Shrek became an instant animation favorite for many audiences as the titular hero Myers and his mostly unwanted friend Donkey Murphy set off on a journey to rescue Princess Fiona Cameron Diaz from a castle hovering over a volcano so that the vertically-impaired Prince Farquaad John Lithgow will become King and restore Shrek s swamp to its originally lonesome state. It remains the sharpest of the films in the series, but there s a noticeable inferiority in animation compared to its successors that just can t be helped, as animation improves dramatically with each year. It s still a nice looking film though. Shrek 2 was a slight step down from the original, but the concept still had enough steam to provide a steady stream of laughs. What s more, is that Shrek 2 introduced Puss in Boots Antonio Banderas, who would follow through the remaining sequels, as well as expanding the spectacular voice cast to include John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews and Jennifer Saunders. The film lags a bit in the middle, but it has an enjoyable finale that does a lot to make up for some of its shortcomings in wit and storytelling. As expected, Shrek 2 sees a noticeable improvement in animation over its predecessor, and the quality is only improved with Blu-ray s hi-def treatment. Then the series hit a serious speed bump. Shrek the Third saw Shrek working as hard as possible to avoid taking over as king of Far Far Away after the death of Fiona s father, the king Cleese. To hand off responsibility, Shrek must leave the kingdom and track down the only other heir, Arthur Justin Timberlake, and bring him back to rule as king. During Shrek s absence, Prince Charming Everett vows vengeance against the ogre who stole his happily ever after in Shrek 2 and recruits all the typical fairytale villains to storm the kingdom and write a new ending. Laden with themes of accepting responsibility and accountability, the film takes all its time attempting to grow Shrek as a character and as a side effect loses most of the comedy the franchise is known for. The upside is that the third film also sees a noticeable bump in animation quality. When Shrek the Third ended with the birth of ogre babies which were only added so they could sell ogre baby plush dolls, let s be honest, any normal sequel would have come replete with countless poop, pee, burp, and fart jokes. Instead, Dreamworks did something quite smart and decided to go the time paradox route with Shrek accidentally wishing himself into an alternate reality where he was never born and consequently never rescued Fiona, leaving Rumplestiltskin to take control of the kingdom, resulting in an underground ogre army rising to fight the evil despot. Shrek Forever After easily supplants the second sequel in terms of the third-best Shrek film, and it goes a long way toward making up for the damage the third film did to the franchise. Unfortunately, it can t shoo away the ogre baby albatross, so the franchise really couldn t go on after this. The Blu-ray presentation is quite beautiful on this one, and even without the 3D that helped the film in theaters, this is the best looking Shrek film without question. Additionally, it brought the talented Jon Hamm and Jane Lynch into the Shrek cast. Spanning the four discs is a documentary, The Animator s Corner: Shrek s Interactive Journey, broken into four parts one on each disc. It s the best new addition to the set and is exclusive to the Blu-ray copies of the films. Shrek Extras Shrekstras?: There are no Local Ads at this time. Search by entering a ZIP code, or your city and state. Please complete both fields. Please enter valid five-digit ZIP Code. 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