This is the second of the big animated sequels this season. Dreamworks is saying goodbye to one of their most lucrative franchises. But it is OK as they have lots of other ones.
I'm sorry but with the intense rivalry between Pixar and Dreamworks it is inevitable that you have to compare their films. Pixar just seems to have some indefinable quality that makes their films so much better. The last couple of 'Shrek' films were very mediocre. It was especially disappointing considering how great the first film was. The first film had a background touch of revenge to it as Jeffery Kattzenberg was sending up the studio that screwed him over. The second and third films lost that sense of malice you might say. This film is OK but just does not have the same quality as a Pixar film. I know no one sets out to make a bad film but here there does not seem to be the same care and love that you expect. It just feels like they are just churning out a film and not trying to expand the characters or story. There is an attempt to try something different but it does not work. All it means is there are lots more lame jokes to tell. The makers can just stick any old thing on the screen and people will flock to see it. That may be true but as we have seen by the box office there is a lot more return business for other animated films.
The cast just seem to be going through the motions here. I'm a huge fan of Mike Myers and I hope he gets back his mojo sometime soon. Thankfully Eddie Murphy has these films as his career has been completely ruined by doing one too many fat suit comedies. Antonio Banderas does a great job as usual. Walt Dorn though is excellent.
A very mediocre finally to what started out with a brilliant opening film and then went down hill very fast from there.
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