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Shrek the Third

Synopsis

After the king of Far, Far Away croaks (in a marvelous death scene), our dear hapless Shrek (Mike Myers), Donkey, and Puss travel on a small quest to find an alternative king since he doesn't want the job. Meanwhile, Prince Charming is back and stages a coup with a new cadre of evil characters.

What I Thought

So the same gang of voices is back, with a few additions for the third movie. I've gotta say I enjoyed the second one immensely. The third one, however, has as its theme "missed opportunities".

What do I mean by that? We've got a wonderful group of characters, advanced CGI technology, great voices, and yet the story falls totally flat.

The story feels quite rushed, giving the viewers no mental breathing space, even the one "serious" moment feels rushed (the first two movies had such memorable scenes and music, from a great use of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah in the first movie to that great little moment of transformation in the second). The jokes are mostly flat. The "camera" is zoomed in on a talking face too many times with no background. It just feels like they needed to make this movie too fast.

Remember Shrek first going to rescue Fiona? When he and Fiona return back and spend the night in the barn? Or when they go to Far, Far Away? You got a nice feeling of distance and felt the time passes. In Shrek the Third, it feels like Shrek gets on the boat, then 5 minutes later is at his destination.

Granted, it's not all bad. Some of the funniest scenes are with the supporting characters. Pinocchio using lawyer-talk to not lie to Prince Charming is great. The four other princesses who help Fiona (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and Fiona's mom) also have some quite funny lines and personality quirks.

But ultimately, I left the theater a little disappointed. I was hoping that the magic would continue through the third movie, but it looks like a little bit got lost.

 

All photos and text copyright Ryszard Kilarski, unless otherwise noted. Clip art, drawings, paintings are either free domain or copyrighted by the artists.