Hardly Magic

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2007)

In 2004, three years after Shrek graced out screen, we were given its sequel, Shrek 2. Now this movie split audiences down the centre, some people loved it, others hated it and decided they no longer liked Shrek whatsoever. Others, like me admittedly, preferred Shrek 2 and found it be even funnier. The introduction of Puss in Boots was especially a nice touch and brought in even more pop culture references and a great villain in the form of the Fairy Godmother. So naturally I was pretty excited about Shrek the Third originally, then the trailers arrived. My initial reaction to the trailers was sheer horror, not only had I not laughed once in it, but also I was left feeling like I'd seen it all before in Shrek 2. It lacked originality, and that in itself horrified me. So I approached Shrek the Third with some caution, trying to prepare myself for a disappointment. And unfortunately that's exactly what Shrek the Third is, a disappointment. A well made, gorgeous looking and occasionally funny disappointment. Its certainly not the worst animated movie I have ever seen, but its hardly up to the standard of the original. I suppose my biggest moan with the movie is it never seems that funny, it has the occasional funny moment in it, and a lot of the movie has potential, but it never reaches this potential. It seems to be almost holding back, a lot of people complained about the pop culture references in the second part, but come on I'd like something a bit more than what we get here.
Well lets start off with the characters and cast then. Mike Myers is as good as he can be in the role as Shrek, admittedly this was the first movie I truly appreciated the character. Shrek has always seemed bland to me, but likable. Here I felt he had his moments, and since he really is the main focus of the storyline here, and not really so much the supporting characters, I felt that this was more Shrek's journey. This is a good thing for the movie as it gave us time to appreciate how good the character actually is, albeit still being a bit unfunny at times. Cameron Diaz does her usual routine as Fiona, this isn't bad at all, and she has her moments, especially a well written Baby Shower sequence with Snow White, Cinderella etc. Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas however seem to have been given the short straw in this movie. They're the best things in Shrek 2, so naturally you'd assume the director would shove them in our face as often as possible. No, instead the director sidelines them and gives them nothing to do, a shame as they show flashes of brilliance, yet they're not in it enough for us to notice it. This is the movies ultimate flaw, as audiences go mostly to see the pair, even their obligatory dance routine seems half hearted with them. The supporting cast are all brilliant again, in fact a lot of the supporting cast are the best. John Cleese makes the most of his limited screen time, Eric Idle is an ingenious addition to the cast as the eccentric Merlin, and surprisingly Justin Timberlake actually works as Arthur, despite him not being very funny.
The comedy of the movie is where its flaws are most prominent. The movie starts off on a high note, in fact for the first half hour I was quite a happy person indeed. The frog kings last croak is absolutely hilarious and undoubtedly the best thing in the movie, the funeral that flows is almost as funny, especially to the accompaniment of a frog choir singing "Live and Let Die." Then the movie sort of flounders when we reach Arthur's high school. Of course meeting Lancelot and Guinevere is a nice touch, and gives us some smiles. But popular girls speaking in an old language in their usual uncaring tone just doesn't work at all. Matters aren't helped as that scene sort of drags on and on. The scenes back in Far Far Away are much better as it shows some great characters with more screen time. I appreciated the villains in this movie, they had some pretty good moments, especially the trees near the end, that got a big laugh out of the audience. The movie just sort of filters out by the overly-sentimental ending. Its humour is always in the background, but never reaches its pinnacle like the others did. I enjoyed the movie, but can't say I loved it like the other two.
The animation on the other hand is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The landscapes are very well done and are thing of beauty to behold, the characters look realistic now, and at times you actually forget you're watching a cartoon! The storyline here as well is actually a bit better than Shrek 2's. I liked the storyline here and motives here a lot more, I also found the moral to be just that tiniest bit better than Shrek 2's. In fact this movie had the potential to be a bit better than the previous two, it just loses out with a lack of humour and by wasting the two best characters! Also the loss of the Fairy Godmother is noticeable.
Overall Shrek the Third will please the kids, and huge fans of the series will lap it up. But its definitely a flawed movie with so much unfulfilled potential. I'd recommend seeing it, and perhaps a second viewing might be required to get the most out of it. But at the moment its just another sequel this summer that disappoints. Not quite as awful as Spiderman 3, at least I was never bored here, but its still a far cry short of the Summers greats such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Ocean's Thirteen.