The worst in the bunch of good films.

Rating: 4/10 (25 August 2010)

For a long time I've heard and read very negative things about Shrek the Third, which I enjoyed, a lot, but I was still looking forward to this supposed final chapter in the very popular series by DreamWorks Animation.
Shrek has grown tired of his family life and longs to be that monstrous and wild feared ogre he once was. His reputation has gone down the drain and now his swamp is a tourist attraction sight, and he is constantly tired out by family commitments and chores. Desperate to live his old life for one more day, he signs a contract with the scheming Rumplestiltskin but in return lives a day where Donkey works for evil witches, Puss is a fat overfed cat and Fiona is the leader of a group of freedom fighting ogres. The problem is that none of them remember Shrek, at all.
This should have been the ultimate Shrek movie, but it is not. The problem with this is that surprisingly, the characters have no scope, except Shrek and maybe Fiona, who is a, feisty and somewhat pleasing to eyes, ogress. All the beloved characters from Donkey and Puss to Gingy and Pinocchio have nothing to do but appear briefly. The emphasis here is on Shrek's journey of realisation. Though Mike Myers is great as Shrek, the character himself was never the strong point in the series and therefore to have him roam around for the majority of the film trying to fix things was not appealing.
The animation is awesome and supersedes anything we've seen before in a Shrek film but that is just not enough for me. My 4-year old son laughed, jumped and cheered at all the right predictable places but I managed to smile maybe once, if that.
Of course it's really good to hear Murphy, Banderas and even Julie Andrews familiar voices but the jokes are dry and like I said before, Donkey and company really don't have all that much to do. And we don't even know what happened to that famous character Arthur. Remember him? Another downer in this film is that we don't see much of Pinocchio or Gingy, both of which are extremely enjoyable to watch. But the biggest let down of all is Rumplstiltskin. First of all, in the previous film he looks totally different to what he looks in this, even though his one line cameo in Shrek the Third may go unnoticed. Secondly, the voice for this character is so cringe-worthy I had trouble keeping a straight face every time he spoke, and believe me, I was not laughing.
Once this is over, there are many things that pop into your head and none of these are in favour of this tripe. I honestly tried to like this film because I enjoyed the previous three immensely but when you wish that this had now never been made or that Dreamworks should have brought back Prince Charming and Justin Timberlake's "Atrie" you know then that this is not the best film to come out of this studio.
It's not Dreamworks worst film but it surely is on par with the worst, which in my opinion is Shark Tale, though I have not seen that Bee Movie.
On a more positive note, I have mentioned that the animation is very good but the expressions of Rumplestiltskin are excellent. From his sparkling and pleading eyes to his ever so grim and maniacal snort, you cannot complain that visually he is a marvellous character to view. And then we also get to see a whole army of ogres, all of which are strangely and positively different from one another. Their secret hideout and their vastness I appreciated and though very predictable, I did enjoy how Shrek tries to make Fiona remember who he is. Also, the ogre babies are extremely adorable.
BEST SCENE: There isn't one, honestly. I did however giggle when warrior Gingy starts to attack Shrek's boot.
FINAL VERDICT: Unfortunately, Dreamworks have thought about the money and not much about this very poor story. Animation aside, this film is very weak and if it wasn't for the characters we all know and love, I'd say this was really, really bad. Whoever says this is better than Shrek the Third seriously needs their head checking out.
4/10 – Average