SHREK THE THIRD
Reviewed by Sam Hatch
The talented folks at Dreamworks animation have returned to the feeding trough. This is their third outing in the uber-successful series that put them on the map as a legitimate contender for Pixar's computer generated throne. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy all return as the iconic characters Shrek, Fiona and Donkey. Shrek 2 newcomer Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas) also makes a welcome return, as both his and Donkey's antics generate some of the movie's biggest laughs.
I found the first Shrek a jumbled, sloppily plotted mess that lacked a convincing villain and justified its own existence through one-off jokes and spoofs of The Matrix. The second film, however, was a delightfully well-written and hilarious romp that was much better than its predecessor. I still don't care much for some of the character design, and even in this third film it feels at times that the animators are restricting themselves to maintain the look of the original. Just take a look at last year's Over the Hedge to see how far Dreamworks has come as an artistic force.
Shrek the Third isn't as solid plot-wise as the second film, but it's still a sturdier and funnier beast than the first in the series. It actually improves upon the Shrek formula by shedding even more spotlight on the traditional fairy tale characters that it originally set off to spoof. Pinocchio and The Gingerbread Man both return (the former has an exhaustive, gut-bustingly funny truth-skirting monologue), but more focus is placed on the women of Far, Far Away. For while Shrek, Donkey and Puss are out gallivanting in the wilderness, Fiona and friends Snow White (Amy Poehler), Cinderella (Amy Sedaris), Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph) and Cheri Oteri's Sleeping Beauty (not to mention Dragon and Larry King's ugly stepsister Doris) are left to defend the homefront from the villainy of Prince Charming and his nefarious allies.
I was initially thinking the Charming storyline would be weak, but it turned out to be an inspired thread involving his failed career as an actor and his constant desire to prove to the world that Shrek is a miserable ogre who has usurped his rightful place as a fairy tale hero. He turns to the denizens of the Poison Apple Bar (including scary trees, returning pianist Captain Hook and Regis Philbin's other ugly stepsister Mabel) and promises them their own ‘Happily Ever After' if they help him stage a coup to recapture the kingdom.
John Cleese is back as King Harold (still in frog form per the revelations of the last film's final act), but is in failing health. He wishes for Shrek and Fiona to rule following his demise, but after a stream of comedic bungles on Shrek's part during a short period of ‘filling in' for the King during his absence, the titular ogre will do anything to avoid any future political duties. Luckily, he learns of another potential heir – Justin Timberlake's Prince Artie, a teen outcast derivation of King Arthur. There's even a Merlin at hand, in this case an ex-teacher turned reclusive new-age burnout voiced by Eric Idle.
Shrek and the boys go on a long journey to find the boy king, but not before Shrek learns that Fiona is pregnant. While this prospect delights Fiona, Shrek is constantly haunted by the notion of numerous diminutive versions of himself. He even suffers a nightmare sequence reminiscent of the scary baby scene from Trainspotting, as he finds himself unable to escape from scores of little green bundles of hell. In the waking world, Puss and Donkey both attempt talking sense into him (the latter character now being the proud papa of numerous Dragon-Donkey mutants).
They soon arrive at Worcestershire, a ‘high-school' realm loaded with the usual modern-day visual riffs and some funny Medieval takes on role-playing nerds, cheerleaders and football jocks. Artie is an outcast among outcasts, but soon realizes that his newfound royal bloodline comes with delicious possibilities for revenge against his cruel classmates. The script drops the ball a little with his characterization, since plenty of time is spent obsessing over his deadbeat dad. While this does a great job at enhancing Shrek's own internal paternal struggle, we expect some sort of payoff in the end which never comes. Just who is Artie's dad, and how exactly does he tie in to the royal family?
These slight complaints do nothing to hamper the overall fun of the picture, as there are plenty of things the script does right. The decision to allow the female characters to kick some villainous tuchus was a welcome one. The star moment is when Snow White attracts a battalion of cute woodland creatures with her mellifluous, alluring singsong, only to turn them into rampaging attackers once she belts out a take on Robert Plant's wail from the opening of the Led Zepplin tune ‘Immigrant Song'.
Shrek the Third follows in the big green footsteps of its predecessors in terms of quirky soundtrack choices. In addition to the Zep tune and Heart's 'Barracuda', there's also a rendition of Wings' 'Live and Let Die' performed by the characters during a funeral. There's also the daft musical number concocted by Prince Charming to enhance his stage play involving him righteously murdering Shrek in order to save a fair maiden. As expected, the audience loves Shrek more than the proposed ‘hero', thus enraging Charming even further.
The other chuckle-eliciting gag is a teleportation mishap, which leaves Donkey and Puss inhabiting each other's bodies. It's pretty darned funny when Puss attempts his ‘super cute kitty eyes' with the physical form of a dumpy beast of burden. While the antics never best the pee-your-pants-funny tour de force finale of the previous film, there's plenty here to love and laugh at. The Dreamworks team have taken what could easily have been a tired formula retread and have found some new, refreshing story combinations to work with. It's hard not to be charmed by Shrek the Third.