Movie and Television Reviews

Shrek 3 is the movie you get when you have the greatest writing and animation talents at your disposal. Compared to previous Shreks, the third one is visually superior and as funny as its predecessors. It still fails, however, to reach the emotional level of the best animated movies.

Drama:

This Shrek 3 contains three main stories. The first one involves finding a replacement for the Frog King. Either Shrek must replace the king himself or find the last of the royal line. When Shrek decides he doesn’t want to be king, he goes to an island in search of that heir who he eventually finds in the person of Arthur, a geeky, but noble teenager. The second plot features Prince Charming, the vain and decidedly un-noble seeker of the throne whose plot Shrek must foil. The last plot involves Shrek again, but in this one he battles his paternal apprehensions after Fiona confronts him about having children. The plots are solid and move along nicely, but don’t inspire, despite efforts to make the boy’s evolution into king and Shrek’s evolution into father meaningful. It’s here that Shrek comes off as soul-less. Brilliant, technically perfect, and professional, but mass-market, slick, and board-room genius. Shrek gives me the feeling that it's made by a committee of experts getting together to write their next Swimming pool (Beatles reference) rather than men wanting to say something like those responsible for the legitimately profound Lion King or even Toy Story.

Put aside the emotional emptiness and you have in Shrek 3 an awesome display of Hollywood craftsmanship. The animation is even more spectacular than the first two Shreks, achieving an amazing level of detail, (which makes sense since computers and software continue to improve). Facets such as water, hair, and bubbles look live-action realistic. The true to life animation is given superb direction by Chris Miller and Raman Hui. The angles and cuts are flawless, subtle, and demonstrate a mastery of the form. Small details like people in the crowd sighing delight both the casual viewer and those who look for this kind of thing.

Every Shrek movie includes something new to parody. The first movie starts with the fairy tale genre in general. The second Shrek adds the theme park (Disneyland), and this one takes on high school, but set in fairy tale land complete with cheerleaders, jocks, and a pair of role-playing nerds- all with a middle age vibe, of course. Another clever addition is the inclusion of the familiar fairy-tale villains Hook, the wicked stepsisters, and various witches.

The Shrek franchise's greatest strength isn't its animation, as amazing as it is; it's its writing. It may have been enough for Shrek to parody the fairy tale genre like the Scary Movie series parody the horror film genre, but the Shrek writers add another layer of humor beyond what’s necessary. In other words, Shrek would be funny if taken out of its parody premise. Instead of just having Pinocchio grow his nose, for example, the writers make up a hilarious sequence wherein Pinocchio tries to avoid giving information despite his obvious liability. Other laugh-out-loud funny scenes include a baby shower for Fiona attended by Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping beauty; their subsequent attack of the castle; the opening sequence with Shrek assuming the duties of King; and the main cast’s encounter with a hippy Merlin. Again, in each of the mentioned scenes the writers don’t content themselves with presenting stereotypes and having them act as normal, un-idealized people would, but add premise-independent humor.

Message/politics:

Another duty movie. Both Shrek and Arthur must fulfill their responsibilities to their kingdom and their family. Marriage and parenthood are presented positively and as institutions worthy of sacrifice.

A drop of feminism is added when the princesses decide they must take responsibility for their own rescue, but it’s more of a humor device than a point, really. In fact, it’s very funny. The girls first “take positions” by laying on the couch to be rescued before being convinced by the Queen to take responsibility for their own rescue.

Gross-out factor:

It seems a sad reality that most children’s movies today resort to flatulence and other body-emitters to draw cheap laughs. Several examples are present in Shrek 3. Except for something falling off a frightened Gingerbread man, the gross-out humor has to do with Shrek being an Ogre and, since its integral to the plot, I’ll let it pass, so to speak.

Credits below

Follow up:

Directed by
Chris Miller
Raman Hui (co-director)

Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Andrew Adamson story
Howard Gould additional screenplay material
Jeffrey Price screenplay
Peter S. Seaman screenplay
William Steig book Shrek!
J. David Stem
David N. Weiss
Jon Zack screenplay

Cast (in credits order)

Mike Myers ... Shrek (voice)

Eddie Murphy ... Donkey (voice)

Cameron Diaz ... Princess Fiona (voice)

Antonio Banderas ... Puss In Boots (voice)

Julie Andrews ... Queen Lillian (voice)

John Cleese ... King Harold (voice)

Rupert Everett ... Prince Charming (voice)

Eric Idle ... Merlin (voice)

Justin Timberlake ... Artie (voice)
Susan Blakeslee ... Evil Queen (voice)
Cody Cameron ... Pinocchio/Three Pigs/Ogre Baby/Bohort (voice)

Larry King ... Doris (voice)
Christopher Knights ... Blind Mice/Heckler/Evil Tree #2/Guard #2 (voice)

John Krasinski ... Lancelot (voice)

Ian McShane ... Captain Hook (voice)
Cheri Oteri ... Sleeping Beauty/Actress (voice)

Regis Philbin ... Mabel (voice)
Amy Poehler ... Snow White (voice)
Seth Rogen ... Ship Captain (voice)
Maya Rudolph ... Rapunzel (voice)

Amy Sedaris ... Cinderella (voice)
Aron Warner ... Wolf (voice)
Jasper Johannes Andrews ... Ogre Baby (voice)
Guillaume Aretos ... Raul (voice)

Kelly Asbury ... Master of Ceremonies/Fiddlesworth (voice)
Zachary James Bernard ... Ogre Baby (voice)
Andrew Birch ... Evil Tree #1 (voice)
Sean Bishop ... Drivers Ed Instructor/Hall Monitor/Teacher (voice)
Kelly Cooney ... Cheerleader/Tiffany/Mother (voice)
Walt Dohrn ... Van Student/Xavier/Principal Pynchley/Nanny Dwarf/Evil Knight/Singing Villain (voice)
Dante James Hauser ... Ogre Baby (voice)
Hauser Jordan Alexander ... Ogre Baby (voice)

Tom Kane ... Guard #1 (voice)
Tom McGrath ... Gary (voice)
Chris Miller ... Puppet Master/Announcer/Mascot/Singing Villain (voice)
Latifa Ouaou ... Cheerleader/Guinevere/Woman (voice)

Alina Phelan ... Cheerleader (voice)
David P. Smith ... Waiter/Evil Dwarf (voice)

Mark Valley ... Cyclops (voice)
Conrad Vernon ... Rumplestiltskin/Headless Horseman (voice)
Kari Wahlgren ... Old Lady (voice)