Cartoon Central

The latest computer-animated extravaganza from DreamWorks is certainly an improvement over last year’s desperate “Shark Tale,” but it’s not as crisp start-to-finish as the “Shrek” movies. And it falls into the same trap as so many films of this genre (with the notable exception of “The Incredibles"): In an effort to seem hip and high-energy with a litany of pop-culture references, the writing (from a team of four) instead comes off as hackneyed and lazy.