Shrek the Third review: Even Ogres Have Some Growing Pains

Shrek’s going through a mid-life crisis. What’s an ogre to do?

Shrek the Third tries to answer that question, addressing issues of fatherhood, friendship, and accepting ourselves for who we are [insert “aww” sound here].

After Shrek’s (Mike Meyers) froggie father in law (John Cleese) passes away, Shrek must be king of Far Far Away; that is, unless he can find Fiona’s (Cameron Diaz) cousin Artie (Justin Timberlake), and persuade him to take the crown.

Shrek, accompanied by pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) sails into the sunset, determined to coerce Artie into becoming king. Yet as Shrek is departing, Fiona shouts from the pier that she is pregnant. As Shrek quickly attempts to come to terms with his soon to be fatherhood, Puss comforts him and says, “You are royally [sounds of blaring fog horn].”

Now far far away from Far Far Away, Shrek and company land in high school Hell as they search for Artie, a teen so nerdy even the nerds pick on him. As Shrek leads rebellious Artie to Far Far Away, the two learn from each other [tear]. Artie learns from Shrek that, strangely enough, it is okay to be different. And Shrek learns Parenting Skills 101 from his fast-growing relationship with Artie.

Meanwhile, in Far Far Away, the evil Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) leads a gang of evildoers, ranging from Captain Hook to the Headless Horseman, in a mutiny against the current do-gooders who rule the kingdom. Fiona must enlist the help of girlfriends Snow White (Amy Poehler), Cinderella (Amy Sedaris), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri), and Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph) to thwart Charming’s plans of a royal takeover.

Will Artie become king, or is Far Far Away doomed in the hands of Charming and his villainous crew? Even more important, will the audience be able to swallow this relatively thin storyline and huge serving of good morals

Yes. As didactic as this film seems to be, it’s also a lot of fun.

True, it doesn’t have that same “freshness” of the original Shrek. True, some of the jokes become a little old. True, Artie make us realize that Justin Timberlake’s voice is oddly feminine.

Yet the majority of the movie is filled with a lot of laughs, some of which (hopefully) only adults can appreciate (yay for dumb Hooters references in a kiddie kingdom), and even some good ole’ message of girl power that I haven’t seen since the Spice Girls (may they rest in peace).

Shrek the Third is what it is, with hopes of aiming to please its built in audience base with stupid – and not so stupid – laughs…and what better reason to go to the movies than that?