Dir. Chris Miller, US, 2007, 92 mins Cast: (voices) Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Justin Timberlake Review by Sian Thatcher After two hugely successful and witty films, it seems the Shrek team have run out of puff. Shrek the Third, while still laugh-out-loud in places, seems diluted, flabby and lacks the pace and intelligence of the others. Based on a story by Andrew Adamson, who also wrote the first two, the latest adventure revolves around Shrek's difficulty to accept responsibility. The gentle ogre (Myers) is blissfully married to Princess Fiona (Diaz), but Fiona's amphibious father, King Harold (Cleese) croaks and leaves Shrek next in line for the throne, with her younger cousin as an unappealing second choice. Shrek immediately sets off with sidekicks Donkey (Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Banderas) in search of geeky cousin Artie (Timberlake), but not before Fiona blurts out her news – she's got an ogre in the oven. This sends her husband over the edge... Meanwhile, Prince Charming (Everett), fed up with doing dinner theatre and still harbouring ambitions to be king, rallies Captain Hook and other villains to stage a coup and take over the palace, leaving only Fiona, her mother (Andrews), and their fairytale friends to defend Far Far Away. The momentum of the film trundles to a halt as Shrek leaves on his expedition, and it never really regains the pace. Some of the new characters – Artie and Merlin in particular – have long tedious scenes with little or no humour to them and considering how high the bar has been raised by Shrek and Shrek 2, this is rather substandard. They rely too heavily on past jokes and clever as they were, it's all a little too familiar. Diaz is woefully underused in this film, as is Andrews, leaving much of the emphasis on Arty, who is a bland addition to Far Far Away. The moral theme to the film ‘believe in yourself and it'll all be OK' is also rather dull and it seems that the writers have lost their edge. However, the A-list voices are superb, particularly Myers, Banderas and Murphy, as Shrek and his irrepressible sidekicks adding irreverence and great banter as they try to find the young heir to the throne. High points revolve around these characters – the Donkey and Cat change bodies due to a botched spell from Merlin; Shrek has nightmares about lots of mini Shreks; and Pinocchio and other bit-part fairytale characters, such as the blind mice, add a lot of humour to the film. Andrews is also on form as Fiona's mother, who helps the girls escape from prison by head-butting her way through walls. Although there are lows, Shrek the Third is still worth a watch – the characters are endearing and the animation is, as usual, superb. But while there are glimpses of former glory, it does make you wonder what they have left in the bag for Shrek 4 and Shrek 5.
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