(images taken from Rotten Tomatoes).
Shrek the Third is no different from the other two Shrek movie. Same characters meeting new characters based on fairy tales. Over-used dialog and an endless supply of unnecessary celebrity voices. The plot is mostly predictable and too preachy in some parts. The same lessons we hear all the time in family features nowadays. Our parents can do a better job than this movie.
My biggest problem with the Shrek movies is that there isn’t anything about them that is timeless. Because they are based around too many celebrity actors and modern pop-culture references, the movies seem set in a specific time frame. I can’t see children forty or fifty years from now showing enough interest in these movies. Not unless they are real retro fanatics. What is it that makes movies like the old Disney features so timeless (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio). Even later year movies like The Little Mermaid are still remembered fondly.
As an animator, I have many technical and artistic quips about the Shrek films as well. And this isn’t an anti-CG opinion. I find the movement to be too robotic and the posing to be quite stiff. There isn’t enough exaggeration in these films. They are going way too far with this “Illusion of Life” thing that Disney started. How about just trying to tell a good story and keeping audiences interested? And I cannot ignore my beef with the use of celebrity voice-overs in today’s money-run animation industry. Animated films need real actors, not just pop stars like Justin Timberlake (in his first and hopefully last voice over role).
All in all, this movie is entertaining for a few watches. After that, no chance of surviving in a time capsule.
