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Donkey does his best morning routine to get Shrek to
rise and shine. Photo copyright DreamWorks Animation
LLC |
How
the mighty ogre has fallen.
Gone are the charm,
energy and humor of the first two Shrek films, and in
its place is a dull movie that’s not nearly as funny or cute
as it thinks it is. Shrek the Third certainly isn’t
clever, either, and its attempt to include as many fairy
tale characters as possible reeks of pathetic desperation to
do something new for an audience that just wants to
recapture the magic of old.
Part of the problem is
that the film jumps into the story without a fun opening
sequence to reignite our interest. What’s more, it begins
with Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) doing dinner theater
and getting heckled by the Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio
(okay, that is funny), and then vowing to take over the
kingdom of Far, Far Away. Less than 10 minutes later, King
Harold (John Cleese) is dead and Charming has planned a coup
d’etat with the help of Captain Hook (Ian McShane),
Rumplestiltskin (Conrad Vernon) and other fictional
villains.
Death is a dark,
disarming note on which to begin a movie that’s sure to be a
big hit with children, although people of all ages will
inevitably be happy and cheerful as it starts. To be
enshrouded in such negativity so early on sucks the life out
of the audience and, as a consequence, the movie as well.
Of course, the reluctant
hero Shrek (Mike Myers) and his loyal sidekicks Donkey
(Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) are here
to save the day. While Shrek’s pregnant wife, Fiona (Cameron
Diaz), stays behind to fend off Charming’s attack with the
help of Snow White (Amy Poehler), Cinderella (Amy Sedaris)
and Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri), Shrek and the guys travel
to find the rightful heir to the throne, a teenager named
Arthur (Justin Timberlake).
It’s always difficult to
add new elements to a formula that’s worked in the past, and
true to form the surplus of characters never allows the film
to gain momentum. As a result the sequences with Shrek,
Donkey and Puss work best because they offer familiarity and
some decent laughs, particularly when Donkey and Puss switch
bodies after a botched spell by Merlin the Magician (Eric
Idle).
The new characters, for
the most part, struggle: The girls who join Fiona’s gang are
whiny shrews, Captain Hook and the other villains don’t do
very much and John Krasinski (The Office) is
underused as Arthur’s nemesis, Lancelot. And while it’s a
funny idea to have Larry King and Regis Philbin voice ugly
maidens, the children aren’t going to understand the humor
and the material isn’t good enough to amuse adults.
Hopefully the trend of
so-so (which is about as much as you can say for
Spider-Man 3) third installments will not continue into
the summer, as there are many more to come: Pirates of
the Caribbean: At World’s End next week, Ocean’s
Thirteen on June 8, The Bourne Ultimatum on Aug.
3 and the return of loudmouth Chris Tucker and the ancient
Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 3 on Aug. 10. Come to think
of it, maybe Shrek the Third isn’t that bad after
all.
Oh wait, yes it is.
Comments? E-mail
dhudak22@yahoo.com.
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Shrek the Third **
Directed by Chris
Miller, Raman Hui. Screenplay by Jeffrey Price,
Peter S. Seaman, Jon Zack. Starring the voices of
Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio
Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese. Rated PG.
**** A genuine
must-see
*** Entertaining
** Mediocre but
not worthless
* A wretched
waste of time
Also opening in
Miami-Dade County this Friday: Downtown: A Street
Tale. |
