Third Time Kills the Charm
Written: Jun 13 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Worth a few laughs here and there.
Cons: Completely forgettable. By the end of the movie I had forgotten the beginning.
The Bottom Line: The plot is pointless. The new characters suck. I was just waiting for the next funny the whole time and usually that took a long time.
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| youngchinq's Full Review: Shrek the Third |
The Shrek series is dead. Shrek the Third is to Shrek 2, in terms of quality, as Shrek 2 is to the original Shrek. There is simply no comparing the movies - it's alarming. Shrek was a masterpiece; Shrek 2 was watchable; Shrek the Third is horrible. And I know exactly why.
You cannot have a third happily ever after. Even hinting at such outrage reminds us that life is a desert of strife and conflict and fairy tales simply end at the freakish, ephemeral showers of love and happiness. Of course, one selling point of Shrek is how it hilariously takes the magic out of fairy tales, but it is only endearing in the end because, ironically, it is itself a fairy tale with a heart-warming moral.
After you find true love, and then renew that love in a sequel, there is no longer a point, and Shrek the Third has none. This third installment completely sucks all the magic from the romance between Shrek and Fiona, and the story forsakes the couple to be swallowed by the bromides of marriage. The new adventure is fatherhood, and Shrek is reluctant to participate. The new theme is responsibility, as Far, Far Away is in need of a new king and Shrek must find him or be him. The "new" villain is an orphaned-version of Prince Charming, as if he wasn't inept enough with the help of his genuinely menacing mother in Shrek 2.
Along the way, a plethora of forgettable new supporting characters is introduced. The duo of Donkey and Puss in Boots remains intact and for the most part they provide the only laughs when they become the victims of arcane side effects. The problem with the humour in Shrek the Third is that it has become completely random and mostly predictable; the odd unexpected "ha-ha" usually has nothing to do with anything. As a result, not even the children in the theatre I was at were engaged.
There was a sense of peril and excitement in Shrek and, to a much lesser extent, in Shrek 2. Shrek the Third is just 90 minutes of bored characters trying to pass the time by cracking not-so-funny jokes and plopping down kids like nobody's business. There is absolutely no charm left in this franchise and I can already see what Shrek 4 might be about: infidelity and trying to get all those little bastards through college.
Recommended:
No
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youngchinq
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Member: JJ Pi
Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 187
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About Me:
I am starting medical school in August! In the meanwhile my brain atrophies.
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