16
Stuffed with stock characters -- the vain prince, the critter sidekicks -- who adamantly stay stock.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
30
Washington Post by Ann Hornaday
Winds up answering the question of what "Shrek" hath wrought, and between its plastic-looking visuals and cynical attitude, the news isn't good. Lacking the genuine wit and humanism of that film and any number of forebears, this one deserves its dumpin'.
38
Who would have thought an animated comedy satirizing the predictable nature of fairy tales could be so grim?
50
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
This movie is the worst kind of offender: it thinks its funny and clever, but it is neither. The filmmakers have mistaken banality for wit and silliness for humor, and that doesn't begin to address how visually clunky this motion picture is.
30
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
N'ever was an apostrophe so misplaced, n'ever was the prospect of good cheer so perversely defeated.
50
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
Happily was begun as an old-fashioned 2-D "flat" cartoon and then switched by producer John Williams (of "Shrek") and director Paul J. Bolger to 3-D during production. The style finally is an uncomfortable amalgam of both.
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker
As stiff and slogging as animated films come.