When Shrek married Fiona, the last thing he had in mind was becoming the next
King. But when Shrek’s father-in-law, King Harold, suddenly croaks, that is
exactly what he faces. Unless Shrek (with the help of his trusted companions
Donkey and Puss In Boots) can find a suitable King for Far Far Away, the ogre
could be stuck with the job. The most promising candidate, Fiona’s cousin
Artie, an underachieving Medieval high school slacker, proves to be more of a
challenge than they bargained for.
Cast
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Justin
Timberlake, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler,
Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, John Krasinski, Ian McShane
When his new father-in-law,
King Harold (John Cleese) falls ill, Shrek (Mike Myers) is looked at as the heir
to the land of Far, Far Away. Not one to give up his beloved swamp, Shrek
recruits his friends Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas)
to install the rebellious Artie (Justin Timberlake) as the new king. Princess
Fiona (Cameron Diaz), however, rallies a band of royal girlfriends to fends off
a coup d'etat by the jilted Prince Charming (Rupert Everett).
A PDI/DreamWorks Production
Executive Producers: Andrew Adamson, John H. Williams
Produced by Aron Warner
Directed by Chris Miller
Co-Directed by Raman Hui
Film Review: Shrek the Third
Bottom Line: The third Shrek time is not the charm.
By Kirk Honeycutt found at biz.gamedaily.com
Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
You can't help but miss Shrek. You know, that ornery, mammoth, flatulent,
trumpet-eared, icky-green-colored ogre. Oh, he's still large and green (and
brilliantly voiced by Mike Myers) in his third movie outing, "Shrek the
Third." But his manners and disposition have improved to the point he is
threatened by middle-class respectability. Nor is he the only character to have
changed for the worse. Donkey (Eddie Murphy) is less the hilariously annoying
motormouth companion to Shrek and more a helpful, even empathetic pal. That's
bad enough, but he is no longer very funny either.
Much of the bite and a good deal of the wit of the first two films are
missing here. The rude send-up of beloved fairy tale conventions remains --
somewhat -- but these playful jabs no longer come as pleasing surprises. You
expect them. And you expect better.
DreamWorks Animation has clearly gone to the well one time too many in
"Shrek the Third." Not that you can blame the company. That well has
produced buckets of lucre. The first two films yielded $1.4 billion in boxoffice
receipts and sold more than 130 million DVDs -- a green monster indeed. So no
one should expect a serious drop in the eagerness of families around the world
to embrace a new Shrek movie.
What "Shrek the Third" has evolved into is less a story film than a
vaudeville show. Fittingly, it begins with a medieval version of dinner theater.
It continues with pure slapstick between Shrek and bride Fiona (again Cameron
Diaz) as they riotously disrupt a court ceremony while handicapped by stiff
royal clothes. The film then proceeds with a jousting duel, a magic act,
dancing, singing (deliberately bad), a drag queen, personal appearances by a
host of fairy tale princesses -- Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and
Rapunzel -- and a bra burning before returning to another theatrical
extravaganza.
The glue struggling to hold all this together is a quest by Shrek to find a
new king of rule Far Far Away upon the death of his bride's dad (John Cleese but
only briefly). Shrek is next in line to the throne -- guess Far Far Away doesn't
believe in a matriarchy -- but he abhors the idea. He just wants to return to
his hovel in the swamp.
So Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) set sail in search of
Fiona's long-lost cousin Artie (newcomer Justin Timberlake). Prince Charming
(Rupert Everett), jilted by Fiona for Shrek, seizes on his rival's absence to
instigate a coup d'etat. In the movie's cleverest idea, he assembles all the
"losers" from classic fairy tales -- these would be Captain Hook, the
Evil Queen, the Big Bad Wolf and the Headless Horseman among others -- to assist
him.
So the stage is set for a "classic" showdown when Shrek returns to
the kingdom with Artie. Things get off to a fast start with the collection of
princesses needing rescues suddenly turning into a cartoon version of
"Charlie's Angels." But, boy, is the climax a letdown. Does anyone
want to see Shrek deliver a politically correct speech in which he appeals to
the good side of classic villains? Blah!
Chris Miller, who worked on the previous films, debuts as a director on this
one. (Raman Hui served as co-director.) A new team of writers including Miller
wrote the screenplay. The CG animation remains top-notch, though many of the
visual gags -- like Far Far Away having a distinctly Beverly Hills/Hollywood
look -- are no longer new.
And that pretty much sums up the real problem with "Shrek the
Third": It's no longer new.
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