Posted: 05/20/2007

Shrek the Third

(2007)

by Hank Yuloff

Well, my two year old god daughter sat all the way through Shrek the Third, her second full-length movie ever (after Curious George), and at the end, she looked at us and said “More?” which is about the highest praise she can give anything projected on a screen. (See: “More Elmo.” “More Easter Bunny.” “More Mickey Mouse.”)

I counted up 10 or 12 good laughs during the 92 minutes, plus a few real or imagined sets of mouse ears in the background and had to say that, even though I liked previous installments of the Shrek series, the third was still enjoyable. But I am not sure I can go along with little Miss S and say I need to see more of the jocular green giant.

Mike Myers once again voices Shrek, who has gone from an entirely evil and happy with it ogre to a full fledged family man, married to the princess daughter of the king of Far Far Away. But the frog king is about to croak for a final time and names Shrek his heir. Unless he wants to go find some kid named Arthur to take the job. Shrek is loath to take the crown, so he sets off to time Arthur. The lineage of King Harold to Arthur is barely explained so I have to ask give this movie its first… Huh?!

Plot complications not withstanding, Shrek sets off to find Arthur who is ensconced in high school, being beat up by some guy named Lancelot.

Meanwhile, Prince Charming, who was banished from the castle in the previous Shreks, plots a comeback by enlisting the help of a hundred or so fairy tale losers (Wicked Witch, the troll who was promised Rapunzel’s child, Captain Hook, Geppetto who lost his Pinocchio etc.). He sways them by saying he is just like them. He, like they, has never gotten what he was promised. Okay, here is my second Huh?! Prince charming as a bad guy who never gets what he wants? Hey, doesn’t he end up doing Cinderella, snow white and half a dozen other fairy tale chicks?

While Shrek is away, Charming and his new found army take over the castle, and imprison Princess Fiona and a few of her fairy tale friends: Snow White, Cinderella, Repunzel, Sleeping Beauty and her mother, Queen Lilian. Later in the movie, you will see that these damsels in distress are anything but and predictably will rally to save the day. You will also learn, via tattoo, who is Snow White’s favorite dwarf.

Fairy tales being what they are, and with a track record of Shrek being the underdog who prevails in the first two installments of this series, you can probably guess with little trouble how this one turns out. What you do need to know is that after the closing credits there are not any extras, so you can save that five minutes while the theater empties. Or you can sit in the dark and talk about how consistently solid the animation has been between the three films and that there are just enough jokes aimed at adults to make this a watchable film when you take your children. Beware that there are a few dark scenes and themes dealing with death, so you may have a bit of explanations to make for the little ones.

I think that the three Shrek films make a nice little package, with a beginning, middle and end to the series, but fear not, Mike Myers and company have a fourth, jump the shark edition slated for 2010.

Hank Yuloff is a co-founder and film critic living in Los Angeles. He is a personal friend of Mickey Mouse.

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