Not Horrible, But A Weak Third Entry

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2010)

"Shrek 2" was box office gold and it became the highest grossing animated film to date. DreamWorks obviously got "Shrek The Third" fired up. Now "Shrek 2" was no winner, it was a formulaic sequel with constant pop culture jokes fired at the audience. It was good, if you were a middle schooler in 2004 that usually avoided animated films. But if you're an animation buff or someone who knows what makes a good animated film, it's ultimately a misfire. It wasn't extremely bad though. "Shrek the Third" is significantly worse.
"Shrek The Third" begins where the King of Far Far Away dies and the next king in line is supposed to be his nephew Arthur. Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots go to find Arthur. They to go the academy he attends, as he is a teenage boy that's picked on by everyone. From there, the story is a muddle. Meanwhile, Fiona is pregnant and Artie turns out to be rather difficult. Also, Prince Charming is back with a vengeance and wants to get rid of "happily ever after" by joining forces with all the fairy tale villains.
Despite its constant jokes, the film falls flat. Nice animation also can't save it. To make a good animated film, you need a great story and a great script. Shrek himself was way different in this film. It basically took the big flaws out of "Shrek 2" and had little redeeming values. The jokes are all pop-culture references and what-not, therefore you have a movie that panders to the masses.
It may have not been necessary, but "Shrek The Third" was still a halfway-fun diversion to watch if you have kids, but it is a big disappointment compared to its predecessors. Of course, it was a big success (though it couldn't top "Shrek 2" and a few other big animated films) and the "Shrek" series will keep going as long as it makes money (That's DreamWorks for you). Of course a fourth one is coming despite the fact that people might be a little sick of Shrek by now. A 5.9 out of 10.