So I watched this again after seven years...

Rating: 5/10 (13 July 2014)

I remember watching this film in 2007 on a packed theater and being extremely disappointed by it. In the words of the great Roger Ebert: "I hated, hated, hated this movie", I was like, 14 at the time, and I think it was actually the first time I had been let down by a film on my entire life (although I remember being quite sad after watching Godzilla 98', even at age 5). I had loved the previous two films and I was so angered that the third film had turned out to be so dull and unfunny that I lost my faith on the whole franchise.. and yes! i still watched the fourth film (Shrek Forever After, i think...) but I waited for the DVD (actually didn't buy it, just rented it) and kept my expectations extremely low... and it kinda worked because I remember being quite amused by it.
So, the other night I was surfing around the channels and I came across this film.. and I knew I swore I would never see it again but somehow I decided to give it a chance.. I didn't really have anything better to do... or to watch (thanks a lot basic cable!). So I watched the whole affair and once it was over I thought: "Hey, this isn't actually that bad". And don't get me wrong, I don't think this a good film, not by any stretch, nor does it hold a candle to the first two films. But I certainly find it funnier and much better that the first time I watched it (maybe it's the magical force of the low expectations taking place again... I don't know..). Maybe it's because now I get some of the more adult references this film has in comparison with its predecessors, or maybe I've come to appreciate more the raunchier humor. There are still two huge, huge problems with the film that I will simply boil down to two characters: Merlin and (specially) Artie. And... SURPRISE! They're practically the only two new faces that the movie brings to the table. They aren't funny nor special, their interactions with all the other characters feels forced and ultimately it feels that the film could do nothing but improve if they were absent.
There are other problems with the film (mostly jokes that don't land or characters that feel somewhat off) but in the end, it's not that bad of a movie. I can recognize my extreme disappointment with it on its original release because the Shrek franchise was a big deal to me back then, but now on the eyes of a full grown adult, I think of it as a silly little movie I could totally watch on a silly Sunday afternoon without feeling to fall asleep or check my phone all the time to not get bored, which is kind of a compliment given the extremely low quality of Hollywood's children entertainment nowadays (and that's pretty sad, the more you think about it).
5 / 10