Saturday, June 23, 2007

Shrek the Third



Okay, it's been a hot second since I've reviewed some movies, but I have seen a couple recently.

Of course I was going to see the third Shrek film because of my affinity for the green ogre.

For this third installment, the audience finds Shrek (Mike Myers) and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in the bliss of marriage. Soon however, Fiona's father, King Harold (John Cleese), falls ill and dies leaving the kingdom of Far, Far Away to Shrek if he chooses.



Shrek, however, doesn't want to be king opting for a simplistic life back in the swamp. He then sets out to go find the one descendant of the family, Fiona's cousin, the future King Arthur. With entourage in tow, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Buss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), Shrek leaves Far, Far Away and receives some surprising news which I can't reveal.



Arthur, as it turns out is, Artie (Justin Timberlake), a young prep-school nerd who is the joke of everyone, including the popular jock, Lancelot (John Krasinski).

When Shrek comes to Artie to claim his birthright, Artie is reluctant and wants nothing to do with being king. Shrek then helps Artie, with the help of a wacky Merlin (Eric Idle) develop his self-confidence and Artie eventually accepts his place as king of Far, Far Away.



Meanwhile, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) gathers a mass of fairy tale villains to plot an attack on Far, Far Away and assure that they receive their "Happily Ever After". The attack is somewhat thwarted by Fiona and a host of storybook princesses. Look for funny cameos with these characters played by Amy Sedaris, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph.



Truth be told, it was fun seeing the characters and I like the inclusion of the Arthurian legend now. However, we're running out of steam here and I think the creators and audience know this. It's unfortunate that Dreamworks is making a fourth and possibly fifth installment. Let's hope the fourth starts to charge things forward because as it stands the films look to be pulling in to the station. ***B***

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