Film

Shrek the Third (2007)

Director: Chris Miller, Raman Hui

Synopsis

When Shrek’s new father-in-law falls ill, the green ogre is looked at as the new heir to the throne, a role he he not too keen on.

Movie review

From Time Out Chicago

Like a photocopy of a photocopy, Shrek the Third retains the outlines and general form of the original, but the details aren’t as crisp. It has nothing to do with the film’s look, of course; the computer animation has gotten better in the intervening years. It’s the plotting, the voice characterizations, and even the zingy topical references that are muddy and vague.

Shrek (Myers) and Fiona (Diaz) face new challenges: She’s preggers, he’s having sitcom-style anxieties about impending fatherhood (har, har) and the king has died, leaving Shrek the presumptive heir. (Apparently, Far, Far Away remains sexist; Fiona and her mother are never even considered in the line of succession.) Shrek doesn’t want to be king, and so he fetches Artie (Timberlake), the next in line. Meanwhile, Prince Charming (Everett) plots a coup. Artie and Shrek both have to learn to step up to a challenge and to disregard the judgments of others (lessons we thought Shrek had learned long ago). The moral is pounded home with child-friendly regularity.

The jokes are amusing rather than hilarious (we laughed at some, but we shrugged at a lot of others) and Myers in particular seems oddly subdued, as though he couldn’t muster the energy to be funny. No more for us, thanks. Three’s our limit.

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