Movie Review: Shrek the Third

DreamWorks Animation's latest film hits theatres

May 18, 2007

Shrek the Third sees DreamWorks trying to give their ogre a soul. But with inspiration running out for this franchise, there's no soul to find. 5/10

The third time certainly ain't the charm for Shrek the Third. DreamWorks' animated franchise, which has pulled over $700 million in box office so far, is rapidly running out of ideas.

Here's the plot: Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) is reduced to acting out his fantasies on a dinner-theatre stage, getting heckled by bored audience members. When his latest show flops, he gathers together a gang of fairy tale villains, promising them their "happily ever after."

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Shrek (Mike Myers) is desperately trying to avoid becoming Far, Far Away's next king. When the dying King Harold (John Cleese) informs him that there is another heir, the big green guy immediately hightails it out of town, dragging his pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) along, and leaving his wife Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and mother-in-law (Julie Andrews) to mind the store.

Never mind that this other heir, teenaged Artie Pendragon (Justin Timberlake), is so hapless that even the Dungeons & Dragons geeks at his high school torment him. Shrek is so desperate to avoid the throne that he's going to turn Artie into king material even if it kills them both.

The first problem with Shrek the Third: this franchise is really running out of inspiration. Deconstructing fairy tales for fun and profit was intriguing back in 2001, when the first Shrek hit theatres, but creative drought is setting in. After all, how long can DreamWorks sustain a constant barrage of pop-culture references? When the writers start going to Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Six Million Dollar Man for inspiration, you know they're in serious trouble. Oh yeah, and I can see the looks on parents' faces when Junior asks them to explain the Hooters gag, or what "Don't bogart the frankincense and myrrh, dude" means.

To their credit, Shrek's writers know this which is why they're trying to give this series a soul. Which is where Shrek the Third runs into its second problem: they don't know what its soul is. The writers have written a story about growing up, and taking responsibility, but their central character's main motivation is avoiding responsibility. The writers show Shrek growing up by having him foist an entire kingdom onto a kid who's not even out of high school, just so the ogre can hightail it back to his swamp. Does anyone else see a problem with this?

While we're at it, it's great that Shrek the Third is preaching female empowerment, but the transformation of formerly helpless princesses into butt-kicking banshees seems forced. If Shrek the Third is truly about Girl Power, why doesn't Fiona take over as ruler of Far, Far Away if Shrek doesn't want the gig?

Going back to bogarting, the hatchet job the editors did on Led Zeppelin's "The Immigrant Song" (when Snow White unleashes the fury) made me cringe.

Finally, the series has introduced way too many characters into the mix: in addition to returning characters Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Queen Lillian, King Harold, Prince Charming, Pinocchio, Ugly Stepsister, Dragon, Gingerbread Man, Three Pigs and the cross-dressing Wolf, we know have (take a deep breath) Rapunzel, Snow White, Artie, Merlin, the other Ugly Stepsister, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Capt. Hook and a horde of fire-breathing flying donkeys. Much like Spider-Man 3, there are far too many story arcs and characters to properly develop each one.

On the plus side, the animators on Shrek the Third have really kicked it up several notches. The characters have become much more expressive and lifelike since the first movie, and there are several sequences which are simply a joy to watch. Unfortunately, the bloated plot and schmaltzy climax (where Artie tells everyone, "Can't we all just get along?") undercut the excellent visuals. And while I'm complaining, Charming's comeuppance has more than a whiff of deus ex machina to it.

I really enjoyed the first two Shrek films. I thought the concept was getting a little shopworn in Shrek 2, but that flick's comic energy and the sheer number of laugh-out-loud gags saved it. However, Shrek the Third is getting fat in the middle and running out of gas. DreamWorks really needs to give this series a major overhaul if they want to make it to five movies. Overall, a 5/10.

Trailers included with Shrek the Third include Transformers, Bee Movie, Hot Rod, Surf's Up, Hairspray, and Ratatouille.

The copyright of the article Movie Review: Shrek the Third in Animated Films is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Movie Review: Shrek the Third in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Aug 29, 2008 9:32 AM

Guest :

I think you make some good points here on the plot. It does seem that Shrek is trying to get out of doing what everyone expects him to do but maybe the whole idea was that it's just not for him and that he can be a father instead. But you do wonder, given his lack of confidence with bringing up children and actually doing a good job of it, that he could have been king as well. But as we saw at the start of the film, it really wasn't for him.

And yes, the animation was fantastic!

Oct 9, 2008 12:25 AM

Guest :

Bravo, someone else actually sees this move for the trash it is. The "Fast times at Ridgemont High" parody and the talk of fuzzy navels and mai tai's was enough for me to decide my children would NEVER see this movie. Thats not even going into the poor plot, bad attitudes, and general train wreck of a movie it is. The only plus was, as you mentioned, the animators did a fantastic job on graphics.

Great review!