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While Pixar have been at the forefront of cinematic innovation, not only in terms of animation but in films as a whole, DreamWorks Animation have been content to produce relatively unadventurous comedies with big-name casts. Not coincidentally, their most interesting and original idea has also led to their greatest success - the Shrek series, the second instalment of which is the highest-grossing animated film of all time. A clear reason for the franchise's enduring appeal, beyond its high-profile cast and 'fantasy with a twist' concept, is that the two previous films have been royally entertaining, supplying a consistent helping of belly laughs. For this second sequel, previous director Andrew Adamson withdrew from directing duties to make the Narnia films, but he still receives story credit. Also leaving with Adamson, however, are most of the laughs.
Shrek the Third completely has the feel of a product intended to keep merchandise revenue coming in and theme park ride attendances up; it has hardly any new ideas and even the jokes and characters returning from earlier instalments are misused. Possibly the worst casualty is Puss-in-Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas), who has now become simply an unnecessary second comedy sidekick alongside Eddie Murphy's Donkey and relies solely on his cute stare for laughs, the comedic potential of which was exhausted in the second movie. The main new introduction is Artie, the Shrek universe's twist on King Arthur, who is voiced by Justin Timberlake but makes no impression whatsoever due to the lacklustre script. At least Eric Idle's clumsy Merlin does provide a few gentle chuckles.
For a film that is clearly intended to be a comedy the paucity of laughs is unforgivable, but just as bad is the storyline. The film starts with King Harold (John Cleese), who is a frog due to the events of the previous film, on his death bed (his ridiculously protracted death scene provides one of the only real laughs). Shrek is next in line for the throne of Far Far Away but just wants to get back to his swamp, so he sets out to search for the only other heir. The problem is that the set up takes about an hour, by which time the film is already reaching its lazy and unexciting conclusion. There's simply not enough plot, which means that despite the film being a typical animation length of 92 minutes it feels like hardly anything happens. DreamWorks have already announced that Shreks 4 and 5 are in the works and it really feels like the makers are trying to stretch out their ideas as far as possible, to the detriment of the individual chapters.
To its credit, Shrek the Third doesn't rely quite so much on easy pop culture references as previous instalments, but that does also contribute to the scarcity of humour. The early going has some potential, with the aforementioned death scene and a well-placed use of a certain James Bond theme song, as well as Pinocchio's attempts to avoid lying. However, an opening montage clearly intended to induce hilarity barely raises a murmur and that sets the tone for the rest of the film. Shrek the Third has patches that stretched my patience and I doubt it will satisfy even undiscerning children.
The summary
A flat and unfunny continuation of a franchise that seems to have run out of ideas. DreamWorks would be advised to stop while the series still has some credibility left.
