Shrek: A review

The first Shrek was bright and refreshing. It inverted stereotypical roles...not that people paid much attention to fairy tales anyway. A great number of the targets it skewered were from the 30s and 40s, cinematically speaking since recent Disney fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast and, to a lesser extent, The Little Mermaid had also tweaked the formula to where the Beast was a good person and the handsome villager was evil. Nevertheless, the portraying of Shrek the Ogre not only as hero in ogre persona but as an Ogre who remains an Ogre despite being a hero and Fiona as one who is "fake" when beautiful and "real" when ogre-ugly was a significant reversal of normal roles.

The formula worked because the movie was first and foremost funny. The role reversal was subsidiary to the primary goal of the movie...to entertain. Laughs were many and from many quarters and the story was one that related to a great percentage of the audience...finding love in unexpected places, a love that was looked down on by many others. Additionally, there was the comic tension of Donkey the obnoxious latching onto Shrek and sticking through the rejection until they became friends.

Thus the convergence of good jokes, good story, and various interesting sub-plots combined to make a good movie.

Shrek II was an example of why sequels are a great idea. But before we get to Shrek II we need to back up a bit.

There was a little-seen movie short made which told the tale of Lord Farquars' death. It had some nice animation, a heroes in peril motif, and the continuation of the love story. What it lacked was humor. Is it any surprise most people are not even aware it exists? To this day I have not seen it in stores...the only place I have seen it is on one extended edition a co-worker owns.

Shrek II, however, was awesome. It had new technology that made the movie a real feast for the eyes. It had a strong story that the audience could connect with...meeting the unfriendly in-laws who perceive of the new spouse as less than desirable and do not appreciate the changes the marriage has wrought on their offspring. It had new, likable characters...Puss in Boots is a scene-stealer for sure.

The comedy was likewise enhanced with jokes ranging from bad puns (when Donkey becomes a white stallion they walk into a bar where the bartender says, "Why the long face?" to which Donkey reacts beautifully...a great reference to a bad joke) to cultural references (overhead view of police chasing a white Bronco...O.J., anyone?) to movie references to the continuing tweaks of classic fairy tales. The call-back to "Do you still know the Muffin Man?" is inspired.

Thus the new movie had all the elements of the old.

Now comes Shrek the Third, the third (or 4th, depending on how you count) installment in the series. Visually speaking it was stunning as again leaps forward in technology have been made. It continues tweaking the standard hero-villain dichotomy and this time it tells it a little bit more from the villain's side of the story. There are a few solid jokes...Charming having a star on his dressing room door...but doing make-up in the alley and the King's death scene spring pretty readily to mind. There are new additions to the tale in Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Lancelot and Guinevere...but they don't really fit. Unlike the fairy-tale quality of the rest of the movie, Arthur's legend is a little harder edged.

There were other problems. As one watcher pointed out, "Shrek and Donkey get along too well." Many of the laughs from the previous two blockbusters came from their snappy repartee, the arguing with the underlying good humor and liking of one another. That is all gone in this one.


Shrek the Third tries to play with conventions yet again by having the fainting princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and the most recent addition to the pantheon, Fiona) be the rescuers as opposed to rescuees. Sadly, it seems forced instead of natural...

In Shrek, his role as rescuer was well-done, being plot-driven, not plot device. In Shrek the Third it seems like a cheesy plot device where they are saying "We are going to do this the opposite way as normal not because it is funny but because we want to mock the way it is normally done."

The writers have proven before they can do this humorously. They did not bother this time. Gone are the warm motivations, the interplay, the comedic lines...as another individual pointed out, "There were no really quotable lines from this one."

The best jokes are all in the trailers.

And that, ultimately, is where Shrek the Third fails. It is forced and un-funny, though still a visual feast for the eyes.

The huge opening probably ensures they will get another crack at it. I hope they do. And I hope they go back to the beginning and remember what made it great...likable characters, letting the plot serve as the device to do their skewering instead of just saying, "This needs a fesh look and we are going to do it no matter how little sense it makes." Then we can truly enjoy Shrek the Great. Or whatever they call it...