Same old Shrek, for better or worse

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2007)

Shrek the Third reviewed by Samuel Osborn
Silly green ogres apparently apply to the mantra, "Some things never change." Shrek has returned for his third outing, garbed in all the same bells and whistles that made the previous two episodes go down all fuzzy and easy. It's a nursery rhyme told in the time signature of a Top 100 pop song: clean and catchy, cute and simple, clever and empty. What worked in the first was segued to the second. And what worked in the second was bridged to the third. It's a continuation and a repeat effort, showcasing little more than hollow gumption towards the usage of puns, scatological gags, referential pop culture digs, and the successful artistry of a million well-positioned pixels. The pill goes down easy and the magic it works is enjoyable enough. But its luster has gone and the originality flattened. Like I said, some things never change. Shrek is still Shrek. But how long until that charm dims?
After marrying the princess and meeting the parents, Shrek (Mike Meyers) is now asked to be king. Far Far Away has lost its toad ruler (John Cleese) and the next in the royal line is our fat green ogre. Declining the offer on terms of being horribly unqualified for the job, Shrek is informed that after himself, a boy named Arthur (Justin Timberlake) is due to be king. I guess the list of Grimm and Disney characters to spoof had worn thin, requiring the Shrek writing-team to dig into Arthurian lore. Such myth is applied to the world of medieval high school, with Arthur (here known as Artie) playing victim to Lancelot's (John Krasinski) muscled jock glory. Guinevere (Latifa Ouaou) plays a cheerleader; the sort of girl whose vocabulary consists of "whatever" and "totally." In the shadowy background lurks Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), bitter about having lost his shot at the throne, now rallying the villains of the fairy tale kingdom for a final showdown between the palace walls of Far Far Away.
The Shrek franchise has never been one for sincerity. Its shtick is the sly punch-line; the clever in-joke that only the adults get. With its for-the-whole-family-humor and animated renditions of popular rock tunes, Shrek spreads the vulture wings of a massive demographic, mainstreaming itself for mass consumption. Here the tactic is most obviously at play. Sincerity is wholly lacking in its empty story, which plays most like the spoof of a Greatest Hits mix tape of fairy tale characters.
There's a point when Snow Whitein the Shrek world, an obnoxious, caddy brunettesings the original tune from the classic Disney picture. The old recording, scratchy and ancient, is used, reminding us of the sweetness and simplicity of those pictures. Animation didn't used to be so sly, so impatient for the next joke. Shrek is fine, all three episodes of it. It's fun, colorful and bouncily easy to digest. Filled with fiber, let's say. But it has all the viscosity of a stand-up routine. The story itself means nothing, let alone the characters. It's the jokes hidden inside, tucked in all the shadows, that matter. Shrek the Third, as Guinevere would say "is, like, so totally whatever."
Samuel Osborn