In 2001, Shrek was released and ended up becoming a very successful animated movie. It was no surprise when the sequel, Shrek 2 was released in 2004. That movie was also very successful. I have seen both of those movies and enjoyed them, so I have been wanting to see the newest movie in the franchise, Shrek the Third.

Since this is the third movie in a series, some things that I mention could be spoilers for the first two movies. In discussing the plot of Shrek the Third, I’m only talking about things that were shown in the trailers. There could be minor spoilers for people who haven’t seen the trailers yet.

Shrek and Fiona were filling in for King Harold because he was sick. Things weren’t going well and Shrek was looking forward to when he and Fiona could return to their swamp. Things changed when the dying King Harold named Shrek and Fiona as his heirs to rule Far Far Away. Shrek really didn’t want to be King, so he set off to find Arthur, Fiona’s cousin who was the only other heir, with Donkey and Puss in Boots. Shrek was also struggling to deal with the fact that Fiona told him she was pregnant. Prince Charming still wanted to be King and saw this as his opportunity to take over Far Far Away with the help of other fairytale villains.

Shrek the Third picked up not to long after the end of Shrek 2, though I’m not sure exactly how much time had passed. The plot did build on things that happened in the first two movies, so it would be best to see the movies in order. Viewers could be confused about certain things if they haven’t seen the first movies before seeing this one. The plot really wasn’t that original even though some new things were added because for the third time, Shrek ended up going on a quest. The blending in of the King Arthur legend did add something new, though it did seem a little odd to have Arthur in a movie with fairytale characters.

Shrek the Third was a funny movie overall, though I don’t think it was as funny as the first two movies. There were several jokes that relied on the gross type of humor, something that was done in the first two movies. The second movie especially included a lot of pop culture references which did get a little old even though some of them were funny. Thankfully that wasn’t done in this movie. I think Donkey and Puss in Boots added the most humor. It was very funny when a magic spell went a bit wrong and did something to the two of them. I do think that the funniest things were shown in the trailers.

Shrek the Third also included some more serious moments. The part dealing with King Harold’s illness and death could be upsetting to younger children even though there was an attempt to make light of the situation in the movie. When I first heard about the plot for this movie and that King Harold’s death was going to be included, I had doubts about how well that would work, especially in a movie aimed mainly at children. I’m still not sure how I feel about that even after seeing the movie. I did have concerns that the movie would end up being very sad and possibly even depressing because of that. It wasn’t as sad as I had thought it might be before seeing the movie.

Some well known songs were used in the first two movies. The songs that were selected for those movies worked very well with what was going on. That was done again in Shrek the Third, though the music choices just didn’t seem to work as well. I don’t think there were as many songs included either. Having Live and Let Die play during the funeral scene just seemed extremely out of place to me. There really weren’t any fun or catchy songs used in this movie like there were in the first two. The score was written by Harry Gregson-Wagner, the same man who composed the scores for the first two movies. Some of the score did sound similar to what was in those movies.

Shrek the Third was made with computer animation. The animation was very well done. A few things, like water and the feather on Puss in Boots hat looked really impressive. The hair on many characters, and the way the strands would move, was also well done and looked realistic. The people did look good, though they didn’t exactly look realistic. Overall, the animation was very well done and I think it was an improvement on what had been done in the first two movies. Even though I do think the animation was well done, I don’t think it was as good as what Pixar has done.

All the main characters plus several minor supporting characters returned for Shrek the Third. Several characters had been at least briefly in the first two movies were around again. The movie was really over loaded with characters so much that many of them ended up with practically nothing to do. I think that did make the movie suffer. Characters like the Three Little Pigs, Gingy, Pinocchio, Wolf, and the Three Blind Mice turned up briefly in a few scenes. King Harold was in very little of the movie. Queen Lillian was around in more scenes, though most of the time she was just sort of there without doing or even saying anything. That was really a waste of having Julie Andrews provide the character’s voice since she hardly said anything.

Shrek was probably in the most scenes. He had gotten to the point where he liked his in-laws and was trying to help by filling in for King Harold during his illness even though he wanted to get back to his swamp. Really the only new thing that was added to the character was his fear of being a father. Princess Fiona did seem to be pushed more to the background for this movie. She did have a few important things to do, but there were some fairly long stretches when she wasn’t around at all.

Donkey and Puss in Boots were getting along much better, working together to help Shrek without any bickering. Donkey had adjusted to being a father to the flying donkey/dragon babies he had with Dragon. Their babies were cute even though they were odd. I really liked Donkey and Puss and wish they’d had more to do. I think their parts were made smaller to make time for the new character of Arthur. He was the least popular student in his high school and had some insecurity issues. His former teacher Merlin turned up in a few scenes wearing a very short robe. There really wasn’t much development for either character.

Prince Charming was still mad about the fact that he hadn’t gotten his happily ever after. He was obsessed with getting his revenge and becoming the King of Far Far Away. He did seem to be a bit more assertive than he’d been in the second movie. I believe that was because he didn’t have his mother around telling him every move to make. Prince Charming enlisted the help of several other villain characters, some of which had been briefly seen in the second movie. The Princesses ended up with slightly more to do later in the movie and they even had speaking parts instead of just being in the background. Snow White’s two ugly stepsister, Doris and Mabel, were also in a few scenes with Doris having a bit more to do than her sister.

Voice Talent

Julie Andrews - Queen Lillian
Antonio Banderas - Puss in Boots
John Cleese - King Harold
Cameron Diaz - Princess Fiona
Rupert Everett - Prince Charming
Eric Idle - Merlin
Larry King - Doris
Cheri Oteri - Sleeping Beauty
Regis Philbin - Mabel
Amy Poehler - Snow White
Mya Rudolph - Rapunzel
Amy Sedaris - Cinderella
Justin Timberlake - Arthur

Shrek the Third wasn’t as funny as Shrek or Shrek 2, but it was still entertaining and worth seeing at least once. People that liked the first two movies may also like this one.

This is another movie that I would have given three and a half stars if I had the option. Since I don’t, I rounded up to four stars.

Shrek Reviews
Shrek ~ Shrek 2 ~ Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen ~

Animated Movie Reviews
Aladdin ~ Barnyard ~ Beauty and the Beast ~ Brother Bear ~ A Bug's Life ~ Cars ~ Chicken Little ~ The Emperor's New Groove ~ Finding Nemo ~ Flushed Away ~ Happy Feet ~ Home on the Range ~ Hoodwinked ~ Ice Age ~ Ice Age: The Meltdown ~ The Incredibles ~ Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ~ Lilo & Stitch ~ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ~ Madagascar ~ Meet the Robinsons ~ Monster House ~ Monsters, Inc. ~ Open Season ~ Over the Hedge ~ The Polar Express ~ Robots ~ Shark Tale ~ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ~ Sleeping Beauty ~ Tim Burton's Corpse Bride ~ Toy Story ~ Toy Story 2 ~ Treasure Planet ~ Valiant ~ Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ~ The Wild ~

Recommended: Yes