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Shrek the Third (2007)

Posted on 12 June 2007

ReviewColumn's rating :
3 stars

Shrek the Third

When the first Shrek film arrived a few years ago, it took a half dozen of my friends informing me that it was more than simple children's fare to get me into the theater. It was a hard sell, but when I got in there, I was pleasantly surprised by the adult natured humor and clever play on the classic fairy tale formula. It was a fun experience and the second film actually managed to improve it, turning the angry ogre and obnoxious donkey into household blanket and lunchbox fodder.

So, when Dreamworks rolled out their third entry in the Shrek series, the eponymously named Shrek The Third, I was excited for yet one more run through Far Far Away and its many genre entrapped residences, flush with pop culture references, slyly disguised adult humor, and a slapstick approach to even the most simple of character interactions.

Unfortunately, I was let down almost immediately. Without giving away too much of the plot of the story (of which there is very little), Shrek and Fiona are staying in Far Far Away because the frog king is ill and Shrek has been called upon to stand in as the King's son-in-law for a bit. Apparently, Far Far Away is a wee bit sexist as well. Anyways, Shrek doesn't enjoy this new responsibility and along with the possible arrival of a bouncing baby ogre, and the whiny Justin Timerlake voiced antics of Arty, the young and oft-hated future King Arthur, the journey begins.

First off, the familiar aspects of the film series are almost completely gone. Sure, the characters are all there, and they're going through the motions. But, with every declaration of "I'm an ogre donkey" Shrek seems to be just a bit too snarky, tossing a smile to the crowd saying, "I'll make good in the end." There's no crass, obnoxious Shrek anymore who just wants to be left alone. This is a boring, family man with a gruff exterior that is no longer funny alongside Donkey's grown up attitudes, his own children in tow.

The jokes are all stale, with dozens upon dozens of characters thrown out in rapid succession, each one showing off their own basic stereotypes, whether in gender, origin story, or pop culture cliché. Essentially, Shrek The Third doesn't try a single thing new. What has happened instead is that the series that took such joy in utilizing all of the stereotypes from children's movies and making fun of those conventions has fallen into the trap of utilizing those very conventions. It's a problem that unfortunately plagues many children's films, but is infinitely more disappointing for a film series that at one time did it right.

When mass production and marketing took control of the children's film market, quality immediately fell. Shrek was a good example of how some directors and writers were unhappy with this freefall in quality. Six years later unfortunately, those very same writers and directors have gone down the path of least resistance and offered up canned cliché schlock that children will eat up because it has pretty colors.

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