Shrek the Third

• Title:  Shrek the Third
• Director:  Chris Miller
• Date:  2007
• Studio:  Dreamworks
• Genre:  Comedy, Romance, Musical, Animation
• Cast:  Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Justin Timberlake
• Format:  Color, Widescreen Animation
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"I know what it's like to not feel ready for something.  Even ogres get scared, you know, once in awhile."  -- Shrek


"OK, girls, from here on out, we're gonna' take care of  business ourselves." -- Fiona

In the third Shrek installment, Fiona's father, the King, dies, and leaves Shrek as his heir.  But Shrek isn't ready, and thinks the kingdom won't accept an ogre as king -- so he finds out, on the king's deathbed, that there is another heir, Arthur.

Shrek decides to go with Donkey and Puss-in-Boots to find this lost heir.  Just before he leaves, Fiona tells him she's pregnant.  Shrek is nervous and slightly terrified at the prospect of  becoming a father.

Meanwhile, all the princesses and her mother give Fiona a baby shower.  This is thankfully interrupted by Prince Charming, who has gathered all the evil-doers in Far Far Away to attack the castle.  Charming, a frustrated actor who was failing at dinner theatre, is still trying to impress his mother, Fairy Godmother, by becoming king and taking over the kingdom.

Although Fiona, the Queen, and the princesses initially escape, they are betrayed by Rapunzel (who has made a deal with Charming to become his wife and defacto queen of  Far Far Away).  Once in a dungeon room, the princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) all announce they will wait to be rescued.  Fiona thinks they should rescue themselves, but isn't sure how.  The Queen breaks them out of the dungeon cell -- and Fiona liberates the Princesses.  I loved this scene, especially the bra burning.  The Princesses, the Queen, and Fiona then attack the castle to rescue Shrek, and defeat Prince Charming.

However, during the final conflict at Charming's show (a play starring Charming and Rapunzel in which Charming defeats Shrek and wins the Princess), Shrek and Arthur convince all the villains they should be who they want to be, and fulfill their dreams.  Charming, however, is not taken in by this - as all he wants is control of  the kingdom.  Shrek and Artie  manage to defeat Charming.

Instead of the big musical number to end the film, this one has a montage of Shrek and Fiona as new parents to three little ogres.

Overall, I really liked the Liberation of  the Princesses part of this film (including the combat montage to "Barracuda"; the second plotline -- Shrek and Donkey (with Puss-in-Boots) on yet another quest to a distant  land felt like it had been done.  Charming's rousing of the villains was interesting - but by the end of  the film I actually felt kinda' sorry for Charming.  I think the film could have done a better job of  being fair to his character -- he almost became a cardboard villain so to speak.  Also, with a lost boy king named Arthur, I expected Arthurian/Holy Grail/etc type gags, but other than a psychedelic Merlin the film completely ignored that opportunity.

There also isn't as much in the way of  sight gags and verbal wordplay as their has been in the previous two films.

Recommendation:  See it
Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Stars
Next Film:  Shrek Forever After