I got to see a sneak preview of this third and obviously not the last of this popular series. So what did I think? Shrek himself is not particularly funny this go around. In fact he is kind of boring. It's the supporting cast that make this film watchable and in the end pretty darn funny. Where would Shrek be without Donkey, Puss and Boots, Pinocchio and that funny Gingerbread Man? Not 200 million at the Box Office I can assure you. Sure the kids will shout for joy when they see those little purple dragon babies that Donkey has fathered, and I'm sure they will enjoy the silly smelly jokes and ogre one-liners. The fact is if you are 20 and pushing 30. You will be completely bored with that shit. So thank god for the side kicks and of course the Fairy Tale princesses. The Queen, Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and the dude in drag. It also helps that they are voiced by Julie Andrews and SNL vets like Mya Rudolph, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler and the very funny Amy Sedaris.
So this movie takes off where Shrek 2 ended. Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are trying to get used to life in the kingdom of Far, Far Away. The King (John Cleese), who is now a frog croaks, his fellow froggies do a very strange yet funny rendition of Live and Let Die at the funeral, and the film is off. Shrek is tasked to be King and of course he doesn't want to be king so it's up to him to find an heir to the throne. He learns about some cousin named Artie (Justin Timberlake) who is a complete loser away at boarding school. So Shrek, Puss (Antonio Banderas) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) head out to find the kid and make him own up to his birthright. On their way back they run into a crack pot Merlin (Eric Idle), who could have been utilized a bit better except as a plot device to get Shrek and crew back to the castle in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile that bad Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) guy from the last film hatches a plan to take back the kingdom that he claims is rightfully his. He enlists help from all of the classic villains you remember for your favorite fairy tales. Captain Hook, The Evil Queen, an Evil Knight and Some hilarious Evil Trees (Wizard of Oz). Not to mention that Shrek is dreading his upcoming Fatherhood. Whew, okay now is any of this really important to the enjoyment of this film? The answer is no.
As I said before the best thing about this series is the side-kicks, especially the Gingerbread Man. There is a flash back sequence here where the little cookie is about to meet his maker and he has the end-of-life flashback. It was friggin hilarious. Also the music numbers were pretty good, I loved the random induction of a Paul McCartney favorite and Snow White belting out some Zeppelin. Unfortunately this isn't as funny as the second or first film but it does have some good laughs. This isn't as much for the adults as the jokes aim mostly to the kids but if you listen carefully you can catch a few gems.
Grade: 3 Buckets
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