2007
Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, Justin Timberlake, Eric Idle, Ian McShane, Rupert Everett, John Cleese
Director: Chris Miller
Runtime: 92 Minutes
Distributor: Dreamworks
Rating: PG

The lovable, not so jolly green giant returns for a third outing to once again keep Pixar executives up at night sweating and the result is disappointingly something of a mixed bag. Breaking the record shattering opening weekend set by its predecessor, and primed for a Broadway spin off, this has been described by some as a “sequel made for the worst reasons.” Indeed, while many liked it – and there are things to like – this follow-on is ripe with doughnut syndrome; plenty of glaze and sugary sprinkles, but with a massive hole right through its middle

Fresh ideas have given way to stock formula and this installment feels rushed and somewhat flimsy. A lean running time is sometimes healthy, but here only serves as an attempt to get the viewer in an out before they catch a whiff of the strong stench of recycled material that with more time and effort could be and should be a lot stronger.

The world of Far, Far Away, which Shrek is proclaimed king of when Fiona’s Frog father (John Cleese) um…croaks it (sorry), is here fully realized and rife with culture humor. A prep school full of jocks on the jousting team and D&D nerds who beat up Justin Timberlake’s Arthur is an early standout sequence. Back at the castle we have Fiona enjoying her baby shower where gifts include one of Snow White’s dwarfs as a particularly unappealing babysitter. Problems begin for our heroes when jilted Prince Charming decides to round up every fairytale villain in Far, Far Away and launch a coup de tat against Shrek, Fiona and the gang.

As we sadly discovered with Spiderman 3 and the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, by the time you arrive at film number three in any franchise there are simply so many characters that need to be crammed in here it’s impossible to really do justice to any of them. Lining up alongside Shrek, Donkey, Puss and Fiona are Fiona’s entourage, which includes Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. There’s also returning characters like Pinocchio and the Gingerbread Man. Then there are the new guys; Arthur, Merlin and Captain Hook, played by a criminally underused Ian McShane. Anyone hoping for Al Swearengen minus the potty mouth, will be sorely disappointed.

All this, while very nice and democratic, means that Shrek is a support player in his own film. The interplay between Puss and Donkey feels tired and is just a rehash of the same old jokes from the previous two films. However, luckily for DreamWorks, we are endeared to these characters by now and the pace is just about energetic enough with the requisite set plays to make it work and throw its weight over the alarmingly low bar it has set for itself. If they want to try for a fourth though, they had better start writing and start writing now, because they have done enough to get away with a half assed sequel this one time, but only this one time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 7:59 pm and is filed under Animation, Feature Films, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.