After their first season or two, television reality shows lose much of their initial impact. The originality of the preceding shows is lost as the players attempt to emulate earlier contestants. Apparently, the same is true of un-reality shows. Take Shrek the Third, for example.

Not that this animated movie sequel is a write-off by any means. It’s simply a little too monotonous. Fortunately, the positive aspects of the film outweigh the negatives. One can’t help being impressed with the computer generated animation -- it’s dazzling and more lifelike than ever. 

The plot, however, comes across as weak and often illogical.  When Shrek's father-in-law (voiced by John Cleese), the King of Far Far Away dies, lo and behold, Shrek gets the nod to fill his shoes. Why King Harold overlooks his own daughter remains something of a mystery. Of course, Shrek knows he’s not cut out to be a king. The job is simply too boring for an ogre of action like our hero. But he has a solution for that: seek out a living relative -- apparently the only one -- with a claim to the throne.  

Finding this cousin of Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz), a youth named Arthur (voiced by Justin Timberlake), becomes Shrek’s challenge.  He enlists the company of Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) to make his search more interesting, and they do just that.

When Shrek finds Arthur, he discovers that nobody considers the lad as leadership material. The young fellow, an underachieving high school student, suffers from a severe lack of self-esteem, thanks to the relentless tormenting his classmates have poured upon him because they consider him a nerd. His peers sneer when Shrek announces that Arthur will return with him to the Kingdom of Far Far Away to become King. Meanwhile, Prince Charming (voiced by Rupert Everett) intends on taking over the kingdom by force.

It’s too bad the filmmakers of Shrek the Third focused most of their energy on computer animation and so little on plot. The screenplay by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Jon Zack and Howard Gould is extremely weak and evokes few laughs. Also, there are too many secondary characters detracting from the principal storyline. And, Murphy and Banderas, who voiced significant parts in the previous Shrek films -- and enjoyed the funniest lines -- take a back seat to Myers this time out.

Co-directing with Raman Hui and making his directorial debut here is Chris Miller, an animator and voice artist who worked on the other Shrek films. Sadly, neither Miller nor Hui appear ready to take over this franchise from its original director, Adam Adamson.

(Released by DreamWorks and rated "PG" for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action.)