The only character able to compete against Pixar quality-wise falls flat on his face the third time around

Rating: 4/10 (18 May 2007)

Just how many more jokes and songs is the Shrek franchise going to borrow before it loses its identity and becomes confused as something else? Shrek the Third is a third offering of family entertainment that contains a slew of adult humor, pop culture references, and music from all kinds of genres and time periods. In other words, it is more of the same, and it is becoming old. Like a joke going bad, this film fails to deliver consistent laughs and fails to bring out the sympathetic moments of the original Shrek that started the anti-Disney campaign. While they lay off Disney's back a little, the anti-Disney content is still practically everywhere. If you listen close enough you can hear music imitating the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean. The magic (or anti-magic, if you want to be correct) has disappeared, sending the third installment into another typical animated farce that we have seen time and time again.
With the king (John Cleese in a short role) suddenly croaking (har har har), Shrek (Mike Myers back to his old self) is the heir to the throne. The problem is, he does not want to rule a kingdom, he would much rather be back at the swamp with Fiona (Cameron Diaz in a surprisingly minor role). Things get worse then a few more ogres might be in play in the future and a frustrated Prince Charming (fantastic Rupert Everett). With the help of Donkey (Eddie Murphy, loud and proud) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas scene-stealing again) Shrek attempts to find another heir to the kingdom. There's a lot going on, the writers were not afraid of packing the film with a lot of conflicts. Unfortunately though, some of them result rather abruptly and even in a lazy manner. The voice acting isn't half-bad, with Banderas and Everett leading the way and Justin Timberlake being rather mediocre. As a matter of fact, the casting was quite good with several cameos and most of the voices from before making a return.
What kills Shrek the Third is the cast of underused characters and overused characters. The supporting cast in the first two Shrek films return and provide the most laughs, yet is limited to mere cameos. Even Fiona, a strong and important character in the original, is quite limited the third time around to make room for others. The other princesses, voiced by the female cast of Saturday Night Live, failed miserably in bringing any smart or humorous material. With limited screen time, the chemistry amongst the cast is also lacking, most notably the main three (Shrek, Donkey, Puss). The insane amount of borrowed material and jokes does not help at all, as we can draw content from Toy Story 2, Happily N'Ever After, Blazing Saddles, Looney Tunes, and more. Then we have some jokes that have worn out its welcome a long time ago, you'll know exactly what it is when it happens. Shrek the Third became a repeat of past viewings of other television shows and movies.
The first act had potential, as they did not rely on pop culture but instead on physical humor and sight gags that does not involve burping, farting, or throwing up (which apparently and sadly runs the film to the very end). Then the film started collapsing in entertainment value when all the random music started kicking in, when the pop culture references start flying, and when the plot holes start appearing. Shrek the Third has easily the most plot holes in the series, and also isn't as well written as the other two. Shrek has been watered-down into a franchise just for the kids, as they aimed low in its humor. Replacing satire is gross-out humor that fails. The pacing wasn't as good; the climax was rather anti-climactic, and even the ending seemed rushed and effortless.
Bottom Line: Shrek is nothing like the entertaining ogre we met years ago. The main characters stopped being funny, the supporting cast remains funny but very hidden in the midst of all that is going on, and Shrek the Third just practically fails overall. It is weaker than the second installment (despite the much better beginning) and is not even close as good as the first. With too many characters and running time under 100 minutes, we have quite a convoluted mess that did not know how to end so it ended suddenly, when you least expect it. Shrek is starting to lose his appeal to the mainstream, even though some can argue (*raises hand*) that he started losing it in the first sequel. Let this franchise die; don't make it dip any lower in quality. The kids may have a blast (even then that's a stretch) but the adults should all be quite disappointed with this lackluster blockbuster. Shrek the Third: No more please, three is quite enough. Thank you.