| 91 |
Baltimore Sun
So far in this year's cartoon feature sweepstakes, Shrek the Third rules.
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| 80 |
New York Magazine
Computer-generated animated movies with wall-to-wall jokes can be excruciating, but these jokes are the funniest money can buy.
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| 80 |
Variety
After a buoyantly funny first half-hour, stylish animated comedy takes a breather before ramping it up again for a rambunctious, girrrl-power finale that provides a convenient springboard for further adventures to come.
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| 80 |
The New York Times
Shrek the Third seems at once more energetic and more relaxed, less desperate to prove its cleverness and therefore to some extent smarter.
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| 75 |
USA Today
The world of the fanciful fable looks particularly vibrant this time with its signature blend of realism and fantasy. It is a pleasure to watch these fairy tale folk be themselves -- yet again.
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| 75 |
Boston Globe
The journey is not very exciting, but the destinations are inspired.
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| 75 |
Portland Oregonian
Mostly connects with a fairly tight story -- even if it feels less like a movie and more like a really good episode of a "Shrek" TV series.
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| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Gets back the mood, the pleasure and even some of the freshness of its first installment.
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| 70 |
Salon.com
Brings back the characters you may have loved, as I did, in the earlier movies: My particular faves are Antonio Banderas' poon-hound Puss-in-Boots.
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| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
I love the princess squad.
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| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
Shrek, DreamWorks' big green cash machine, has finally run dry, perhaps not of box office power, but most assuredly of the caustic, fractured fairy tale-isms and the wry, snarky wit that made the first film, and to a lesser degree, the first sequel, so winning.
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| 63 |
ReelViews
Four words say all that needs to be said about Shrek the Third: more of the same.
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| 63 |
New York Post
The big new addition in Shrek the Third is Justin Timberlake as the high school-age future King Arthur, but if Timberlake contributed a song to the soundtrack it would have to be "WhinyBack."
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| 63 |
Miami Herald
What does set Shrek the Third apart is the quality of its animation, which reaches a level of expressiveness in the faces that would make even Hollywood's heavily Botoxed live-action stars envious.
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| 63 |
New York Daily News
It's not all bad. There is a funny early sequence where Prince Charming is being jeered for his lousy cabaret act in a village pub and a hilarious death-lily scene with the bullfrog King Harold (John Cleese) trying to squeak out the name of his heir while snapping up one last fly.
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| 63 |
Chicago Sun-Times
A damped-down return to the Kingdom of Far Far Away, lacking the comic energy of the first brilliant film and not measuring up to the second.
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| 60 |
The New Yorker
The plot material isn't as strong as in the first two movies--if anything, it feels a bit desperate--but the anti-Disney joke blunderbuss remains in good working order.
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| 60 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Much of the bite and a good deal of the wit of the first two films are missing here. The rude send-up of beloved fairy tale conventions remains -- somewhat -- but these playful jabs no longer come as pleasing surprises. You expect them. And you expect better.
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| 58 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A fairly underwhelming experience for man or child -- not so much bad as just more of the same, with little of the original's novelty or freshness.
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| 58 |
Christian Science Monitor
The law of diminishing returns is no more apparent than in the movie world. A sequel, with rare exceptions, is worse than the film it follows, and sequels of sequels fare even worse. Such is the case with Shrek the Third.
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| 50 |
Rolling Stone
There's no disguising the fact that Shrek the Third has come down with a bad case of sequelitis. You know the symptoms: Lots of razzle-dazzle to distract from the hole at the center of the story. You know, the place where fresh ideas should be.
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| 50 |
Washington Post
The end result of Shrek the Third is that you laugh a lot and you go home grumpy.
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| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
I doubt even rabid fans of the first two will consider Shrek the Third a worthy addition to the franchise.
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| 50 |
Village Voice
Ella Taylor
Blinded by avarice and all out of ideas, once again, Hollywood can't tell when enough is way more than enough.
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| 50 |
Los Angeles Times
Has its moments... But does a kids' movie really need, among other similar touches, a Hooters joke? I, for one, wouldn't want to have to explain it.
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| 50 |
Wall Street Journal
This latest iteration of DreamWorks's money machine has its ups and downs, its longueurs along with its felicities, plus an abiding preoccupation with poop.
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| 50 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The only thing majestic about Shrek the Third is the title.
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| 50 |
Charlotte Observer
Reason to make Shrek the Third: Probable earnings of $400 million worldwide. Reasons not to make Shrek the Third: Played-out characters. Bland villain. Novice directors. Slipshod plotting. No compelling story or emotional depth.
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| 50 |
Chicago Reader
The big green babysitter is back, but the charm has evaporated.
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| 50 |
TV Guide
The real trouble is that the filmmakers consistently choose gags over character.
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| 50 |
Film Threat
Michael Ferraro
Somewhat of an improvement over the last one, though it still never veers off familiar terrain. Essentially, if you've only seen one "Shrek" film, you've seen them all.
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| 50 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Shrek the Third isn't a movie, it's the extension of a brand.
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| 40 |
Empire
Another summer threequel, another case of slipping standards – not so much in the visuals, which remain predictably impressive, but in the all-important gag rate. To waste both Donkey and Puss is a crime…
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| 38 |
Premiere
It's just a spectacularly lazy movie that's content to trod the same well-worn ground as its predecessors.
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| 25 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Shrek The Third instead goes for less: fewer jokes, less energy, and toned-down characters.
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