Summer Three-Quels II

In essence, the original Shrek was the new DreamWorks studio taking a slam at Jeffrey Katzenberg’s old employer Disney. It was full of bathroom humor, farts and belches, language and injokes the likes of which Disney would never dare touch. That unique almost offensive flavor in the face of what animation is usually thought of these days was refreshing.

The second film amped up the injokes and took a direct attack on Disney with their parody of a land called Far, Far Away, a place hauntingly similar to Disneyland. This time out there are new characters, more story, more injokes and an unfortunate reliance on cover songs rather than the original music that gave the first film charm.

The third time was unfortunately not a charm for the Shrek folks. This one has the odd feel of being in production before there was a script. What script there is has that weird feel of a guy standing up in a meeting going, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”

A lot of this movie doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and what ideas there are aren’t completed. The legend of Arthur, which I still have no idea why it’s here or what purpose it serves, does nothing for the story, and wastes the talents of Eric Idle and Justin Timberlake. Even the animation is sloppy in parts. All in all a disappointment.