6 Utterly Underwhelming Film Threequels

5. Shrek 3

The first two Shrek films were a breath of fresh air. The first gave us an undeniably witty premise- what if the Ogre was the hero? This idea was complimented by a very sharp script- a riotous farce that subverted the expectations of a fairy tale and was made all the funnier for doing it. Whilst Shrek was ostensibly a children€™s film, it contained enough sly wit- Duloc, the pastiche of Disney, was a particular highlight- and complex characterisation to cultivate a level of adult interest often lacking in this sort of fare. Shrek 2 continued this winning formula with another subverting question; what if Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother were villains? Fantastic characterisation abounded, where Prince Charming was perceived as an effeminate poser and the Fairy Godmother was reimagined as a self-promoting potions tycoon (her employees don€™t even have dental). Combined with a tremendous send-up of Hollywood in the guise of Far, Far Away, and the introduction of a great new character in Puss in Boots, comedy gold was once again struck. But then came Shrek the Third, and trouble. Whilst the Shrek franchise had thus far made its name by subverting narrative convention and creating interesting characters, the third incarnation seemed really, well€ vanilla. It was centred around Shrek finding the heir to Far, Far Away, a nonentity by the name of Arthur Pendragon. He just wasn€™t interesting, and even worse for a Shrek film, he distinctly resembled a stock character- the boy who needed to grow up. As such, it was hard to get behind him, and when he€™s the vehicle by which the plot is driven, that€™s a bad thing. So where we once had amazing, original characters driving the plot, we now had this non-entity, and the film suffered as a result. It was as if the series started to believe its own hype and gave us too much of a good thing. Whilst the principals were all compelling characters in their first two outings, most of the laughs came from the ancillary characters (Donkey excluded) and the Shrek universe itself. However, by the third instalment, it appeared to have reached critical mass; the writers felt compelled to consistently bring back old favourites, but were also continuing to cram in new fairy-tale characters. But with a burgeoning cast comes a lack of time to do every character justice, and this fault spilled out into the main cast. Artie might even have made for an interesting character if they had focused on him rather than the ever-increasing cast of thousands; by this point they were a help rather than a hindrance, having become the tired old clichés they had once subverted. With rotten characterisation and a lack of decent jokes, Shrek the Third was just one colossal disappointment.