Shrek the Third Review

There are no spoilers contained in this review! 

The Case

I couldn't wait to take my little brother and sister to see Shrek the Third!  They couldn't wait either!  We were all so excited, we could barely stand it!  Unfortunately, the movie turned out to be just as flat as the extremely overpriced theater sodas we bought.  What a disappointment.

The Good

Like the previous Shrek movies, it succeeds in entertaining.  It definitely rates at least an average on my scale.  Kids would probably give it more because they love sequels in general.  It had its laughs.  It had its fun plot.  It had a few new characters.  It had its bright spots.  But it didn't quite have enough.

The Bad

Shrek the Third lacked the charisma and charm of the first two Shrek installments.  It just wasn't that funny.  Jokes seemed like repeats from the previous movies, characters weren't placed in over-the-top situations, and the whole thing fizzled.  The problem was that it didn't have the unexpected surprises and humor that we experienced when we saw the first one, and it didn't have the engaging new characters that we saw in the second one.  It basically had nada in the originality department.  And, as I said in my Shrek 2 review, that tends to be the pit of doom for most sequels.

Now, some will argue, rightfully so, that the storyline of Shrek's possible daddy responsibilities is a pretty original thread.  I agree - but it's not all that funny or entertaining.  Especially for kids.  An ogre dealing with adult fears of commitment and responsibility definitely didn't float my siblings' boats (ages 5 and 7).  They said, and I quote, "it was kinda boring about Shrek being maybe a dad."  Uh-huh.  Couldn't have put it better myself.

In addition to the complaints above, I'm just gonna add that Arthur could have been a really cool character, and he didn't deliver.  He was actually a little annoying, and also cut out of a stereotypical teenage cookie-cutter mold (and not the good kind, like the Gingerbread Man)!  Unfortunately, I think the plot kinda depended on Arthur, too.  Not even quirky Merlin could save his young protege, and you know it's bad when Merlin can't fix it!

The Verdict

Three stars!  Shrek the Third is fun, but it falls far short of its two excellent, ogre-centric predecessors!