This past summer, it seemed every franchise was having a part 3. There was "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End," "Ocean's 13," and "Shrek The Third." As an avid fan of the "Shrek" series, I was genuinely anticipating the third sequel (after all, third time is the charm). Unfortunately, the third chapter turned out to be not only one of the worst films of the summer, but one of the worst animated films of the year.

The plot: When King Harold passes away, Shrek ventures off to find a boy named Arthur, who is the next heir to the throne (after Shrek himself that is). While Shrek is away, Prince Charming gathers up a band of "villains" and takes over the kingdom of Far, Far Away. Can the evil Prince be stopped? As a fan of the first two "Shrek" films, I was saddened to find that "Shrek The Third" was nothing more than a rushed waste of time. Instead of focusing on an exciting new adventure with fresh villains, we get a leftover baddie from "Shrek 2" (Prince Charming), two bland new characters (Arthur and Merlin), every fairytale/fantasy character crammed into the story (Snow White, Cinderella, Captain Hook to name a few), obnoxious children running around everywhere, and more burp and fart jokes than you can shake a stick at. The most mind-boggling aspect about this movie? It took FOUR writers to create this mess. If this is the best the creative team could come up with, maybe it's time for new writers. It would be a shame to see this franchise die a slow death. Aside from a few chuckles (namely the Led Zeppelin reference and the walking talking trees), the only positive thing I can say about this third installment is that the animation looks better than ever. The amount of detail in each and every landscape, character, and object is stunning. If only more attention was spent on the script instead...

The 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is flawless. Every pore, freckle, hair follice, blade of grass is perfectly visible in hi-def. Hats off to Dreamworks here for their great work. The English 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus track isn't on par with say the "Transformers" HD-DVD, but it does its job. My main complaint is that the track never really packs a punch. The score, dialogue, sound f/x all sound clear, but it feels like something is missing to bring it to the grade A level.

* 2 web extras ("The World Of Shrek" and "Shrek's Trivia Track") * Trailers for "Bee Movie" and "Kung Fu Panda" * Dreamworks Animation Video Jukebox is a collection of songs from various animated Dreamworks films like "Over The Hedge," "Madagascar," etc. * "Big Green Goofs"- Nearly 2 minutes of animation outtakes. * "Shrek's Guide To Parenthood" features parenting tips from characters like Donkey. * "Meet The Cast" is a 10 1/2 minute featurette that contains interviews with voice actors and actresses discussing their characters. * 4 Lost Scenes titled "The Fauxly Grail," "Hot Lunch," "Cyrana de Artie," and "Doppelgangers." The scenes are presented with crew members pitching the storyboarded scenes. * "Tech Of Shrek" is a nearly 10 minute featurette on the computer f/x. * A 30 second "Donkey Dance." * "The Animator's Corner" is a side-by-side comparison of storyboards and the finished film. * Create your own menus.

I love "Shrek" and "Shrek 2," but "Shrek The Third" is nothing more than a bloated, tiresome adventure. Hopefully, the upcoming "Shrek The Halls" special or "Shrek 4" fare better.