Shrek the Third--meh

Cafe Society
1

I was disappointed by this movie. The first two were very funny and surprising and fresh, and the third was quite stale by comparision. They make fun of high school…gee, that’s never been done before. :rolleyes: Oh, and Shrek is reluctant about parenthood. That’s never been covered before either. Shrek is supposed to be an ogre, and yet he is worried that as an ogre he would not be a good parent…to a baby ogre! Shrek is not supposed to be such a damn whiner!

The scene where the frog king dies was rather uncomfortable, especially since this is essentially a kids’ movie. My daughter didn’t complain, but I squirmed a bit.

I think I laughed once out loud during the whole movie…and now I can’t even remember what I found amusing. I still like Puss, but he didn’t really do anything interesting or funny either. It’s also the only movie I can think of that’s used a Led Zeppelin song, and yet I did not enjoy that nearly as much as one might think I might.

I think the animation style is wearing on me as well. It was like watching a video game.

During the credits, Shrek’s children are blowing up frogs like balloons–all that served to do is remind me of the first movie, and how much I laughed at that and when Fiona cooked the robin’s eggs for breakfast. Sigh

Anyone else see it? What are your thoughts?

2

Is “Immigrant Song” actually used in the movie, as it is in the trailer? Because I thought Led Zeppelin was notoriously tight-assed about their songs being used in movies, TV, etc. (they made an exception for The School of Rock, and that was only a short clip).

3

[QUOTE=Intravenus De Milo]
Is “Immigrant Song” actually used in the movie, as it is in the trailer? Because I thought Led Zeppelin was notoriously tight-assed about their songs being used in movies, TV, etc. (they made an exception for The School of Rock, and that was only a short clip).
[/QUOTE]

Yes, but it is just the beginning part…before the actual lyrics.

I was under the same impression, so I was surprised to hear it too.

4

what about that interacial donky dragon action?

5

Saw it yesterday with the kids. The seven year old thought it was absolutely hilarious. We’re talking bust-a-gut, pee-her-pants hilarious. I thought it made a fine third installment. But third installments tend towards the stale.

I’ll give them points on this one, though…

[spoiler]At the very end, Shrek and Fiona get the triplets to bed. They glance at each other meaningfully. One of them says, with a glint-in-eye ‘What do you want to do now?’

Cut shot to the two of them asleep instantly.[/spoiler]

Utter verisimilitude, folks. Utter. THAT’s the point where all the adults laughed.

Oh, and good use of one of the two Zep songs I ever thought were worth two nickels.

6

[QUOTE=Matt Holck]
what about that interacial donky dragon action?
[/QUOTE]

Oh, you see the donkey-dragon kids flying about, but I got the impression during Fiona’s baby shower that there wasn’t much “action” going on these days since the kids were born.

7

[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance]

I’ll give them points on this one, though…

[spoiler]At the very end, Shrek and Fiona get the triplets to bed. They glance at each other meaningfully. One of them says, with a glint-in-eye ‘What do you want to do now?’

Cut shot to the two of them asleep instantly.[/spoiler]

Utter verisimilitude, folks. Utter. THAT’s the point where all the adults laughed.

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that part cracked us up.

I’m a HUGE fan of the first two movies - our first dance song was from the first movie - and I came out mildly disappointed in this one. There were some funny moments, but not as many as I would have expected. I did like Justin Timberlake (what? I have an embarrassingly adolescent crush on Timberlake).

Still…I’m not thrilled with this one. I wish I had been, but I’m hoping this will be the last Shrek.

8

Shreck should have been one movie

but what do you want from a bunch of producers
sitting on animation software/data to bring an ogre to life

the initial cgi work was created with the first movie
so sequels were inevitable

9

“Penguins for dinner Again?”

10

Kid movies don’t have to be good. The first one just have to be ok enough for Makenyzee or Owynn to pester the living shit out of some adult to take them to the movie and 35 sequels. (I say this as a childfree adult who actually bought Shrek 2- some days you just need to see some rats dancing to ‘Funkytown’!)

11

good point

though I don’t own a copy of the Muppets take Manhatten myself

12

[QUOTE=Annie]
Kid movies don’t have to be good. The first one just have to be ok enough for Makenyzee or Owynn to pester the living shit out of some adult to take them to the movie and 35 sequels.
[/QUOTE]

However, the first two movies were good entertainment. They were good enough that my kid didn’t really need to pester me. That’s why I was disappointed with the third.

Even my 10-year old daughter was disappointed by Shrek 3, although she did seem to enjoy it a little more than her father and I did. I would be very surprised if she pesters “the living shit” out of me to see Shrek 4.

13

I saw Shrek 3 at a free showing. Was about worth the price of admission.

I liked the first Shrek, but not as much as a lot of people I knew did. I thought 2 was okay, although I didn’t love Puss 'N Boots like everyone else did. 3 - I agree with the OP. Meh.

Susan

14

I wasn’t expecting much out of Shrek 3, given its relatively low RottenTomatoes rating, but perhaps this enabled me to truly enjoy the movie. Sure, it may not be quite the caliber of film that the first 2 were, but it had some genunley hilarious moments.

“Now which way do I kick?” had me in stiches.

So while not a fantastic movie, it’s certainly not as bad as many sequels, and I’m glad I saw it. Hell, I could even see it again.

15

I have never seen any of the Shrek movies but it bothers me that anytime one of these fucking CGI pieces of shit kid movies comes out every one has to rush to go see it in the majority of cases.

16

[QUOTE=pool]
I have never seen any of the Shrek movies but it bothers me that anytime one of these fucking CGI pieces of shit kid movies comes out every one has to rush to go see it in the majority of cases.
[/QUOTE]

And how is that different than when everyone went to see the shitty animated cartoons before that? Or any other of countless examples (comicbook movies, action moves with big stars, etc)?

17

But a lot of those movies fail at the box office, even the comic book movies. But all these computer animated movies from DreamWorks and Pixar are almost always successes. I don’t think I could name one that made less than 100million, even fucking Shark Tale made 160 million in the U.S. alone. Just saying one of these studios could release a computer animated story about the life of a piece of shit after you flush it and it would be box office gold.

18

[QUOTE=pool]
But a lot of those movies fail at the box office, even the comic book movies. But all these computer animated movies from **DreamWorks ** and **Pixar ** are almost always successes.
[/QUOTE]

And why shouldn’t they be? Almost all of Pixar’s films are fantastic, as supported by the vast majority of reviews being positive.

Dreamworks has definitely been more hit-or-miss, but Antz (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) and 2/3 of the Shrek films (both high 80s on RT) are widely considered stellar films.

[QUOTE=pool]
I don’t think I could name one that made less than 100million, even fucking Shark Tale made 160 million in the U.S. alone. . Just saying one of these studios could release a computer animated story about the life of a piece of shit after you flush it and it would be box office gold.
[/QUOTE]

I trust you mean any “CGI studio” and not just one of the two you mentioned previously, seeing as Pixar has a damn-near perfect track record (review wise), while Dreamwork’s is respectable.

As for not being able to name a single CGI Kid’s film to gross less than 100 million (US only, I’m guessing, as that’s a ridiculously low figure for worldwide, but I’ll address that too); well, you had better chock that up to your own ignorance, as the factual data suggests otherwise (All US figures, unless otherwise noted):

Open Season: $84 million
**Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: ** $80 million (US)
Monster House: $73 million ($136 million worldwide)
Flushed Away: $63,722,310
TMNT: $53 million ($88 million Worldwide)
Hoodwinked: $51 million (a mere $109mil worldwide)
**Valiant: ** $19 million ($61 million worldwide)

Among others.

I think what we have here is a case of confirmation bias, as quite clearly several CGI films have not even grossed 100 million worldwide, and many more in the US alone.

19

[QUOTE=susan_foster]
I liked the first Shrek, but not as much as a lot of people I knew did. I thought 2 was okay, although I didn’t love Puss 'N Boots like everyone else did. 3 - I agree with the OP. Meh.
[/QUOTE]

We are of like minds. Except I am not going to see Shrek 3 at all, judging by the reaction it’s getting, and by the fact that the trailer made it look like shite.

20

Red Barchetta I am talking about those two studios specifically not CGI movies as a whole, that would be way too large a list of movies. Antz made 90 million thats still just one movie and pretty close to the 100million mark. I believe the only other movie on your list by Dream works was flushed away but that was a collaboration and not made solely by DreamWorks. People eat up pretty much anything these two studios release that are CGI.