That cuddly green ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) has returned for the third go-round, and this time the stakes are a bit higher. King Harold (John Cleese) has croaked (he's a frog, get it, he croaked?) and with one of his last breaths (he had several) he has left the reins of Far Far Away in the hands of Shrek and Fiona (Cameron Diaz).
Naturally, Shrek is thinking mostly of himself, and he isn't really interested. He just wants to go back to the swamp. So before the king dies, he asks if there is another option. Luckily, there is one. His name is Arthur. That's all that Shrek needs to hear. There is someone else who can handle running things and get dressed up, and he and Fiona can get out of there. So he and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss (Antonio Banderas) board a ship and head out to find Arthur.
Before they can barely clear the dock, Fiona has some news for Shrek. It seems that she is pregnant. This doesn't really seem like good news to Shrek, but he puts on a happy face. Mostly because he's leaving. Along the voyage, he has dreams of all sorts of little ogre babies taking over the place. It reminds me of the Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles - only with projectile vomit.
As it turns out, it's only the beginning of Shrek being a bit more humanized, because he doesn't think that he'll be a good dad. This theme will return later.
When the boat lands at Worcestershire (like the sauce) High, Shrek is happy to see the jousting team and a strapping lad who he thinks is Arthur, only to find out that it's not. The kid on the horse is none other than Lancelot. And that snobby girl over there is Guinevere. I'd imagine we'll see more from them later. The somewhat rejected kid that's hiding under the bag is Arthur. Luckily for Shrek, it doesn't really matter. He'll take what he can get.
On their way home, Arthur figures out that he doesn't want to be king, and the struggle for control of the boat manages to get them crashed on the rocks. That, in turn, allows them to meet up with the school's former magic teacher, Merlin (Eric Idle). See how the pieces all fall into place? If there is no fourth movie in the Shrek series, they can certainly do a King Arthur spinoff.
After a love-in with Merlin, who is afraid of his powers, and some more "my dad abandoned me" time with Arthur helps Shrek realize even more that he's afraid of being a bad father to his own kids, it's time to try and get back to Far Far Away, so Merlin zaps them back. The only bad effect with his out-of-practice magic is that Donkey and Puss swap bodies, which leads to a bit of humor.
Arriving back home, they find that Charming, having made friends at a bar for out-of-work villains, has rounded up a cast of characters including Captain Hook, the evil stepsisters (from Cinderella), Rumpelstiltskin, some enchanted trees, a wicked witch or two and a whole host of other evil-types to help him retake Far Far Away. Meanwhile the girls - Fiona, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and Queen Lillian - have been taken prisoner.
When Shrek and company try and come into town, they are quickly captured as well, and Shrek is signed up to take place in Charming's great performance that night, where he plans to kill Shrek and take his rightful place in Happily Ever After After All - the stage production that he can never seem to get quite right.
As the play starts, no one really seems to care, and it's only as the girls come out, and the compatriots of Shrek - Pinocchio, the Gingerbread Man and everyone - that the audience get really excited. But it's when Arthur hits the stage and convinces all the villains that they don't have to be villains that the problem is averted.
Charming takes one last stab - both figuratively and literally - at Shrek, but Shrek doesn't let him take the opportunity, and catches the sword in his chains, ending the threat. It seems like Charming is done for (for real this time). Now, Shrek and Fiona can retire to the swamp with their triplets (yes, triplets!).
The Bottom Line: The first installment of the series was nothing short of groundbreaking. The second one wasn't as earth-shattering, but it was still entertaining. This time around, the animation actually improves, and is really quite impressive, but the story is rather weak. Overall, it felt something like a batch of leftovers, with the writers throwing in all the rest of the storybook characters that they could think of, and while it wasn't exactly bad, that doesn't mean it was good. More than once I found myself looking at my watch, and that's not a good sign for such a short movie.
Rated PG for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action.
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