It is Shrek the Third. It is great the third time too, but you have to consider that it is the third time.

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2007)

It is definitely not the most rewarding task to do a third part of a flourishing movie. The audience is already used to several of the jokes, the characters as such are not fun in themselves (as they undoubtedly were in the first - and, the newer ones, in the second - movie), so saying that Shrek the Third is much worse than its predecessors is just simply not fair.
It is a little bit worse, though. The main problem I would say is that they operate with so many characters, that you do not have the chance to learn to like, hate, or be afraid of them, respectively.
Doris is my favorite new character by far.
The girl-pack (Rapunzel & Co.) are also okay, but again, nobody gets more than one or two minutes screening time- that is not enough to develop or show a character you can find cool.
Also, the scene where King Harold dies (several times) - well, I am not easily offended, but that was a bit of a stretch.
Apart from that, there is a lot of stuff to laugh on and enjoy, the story is a decent (but again, not well-elaborated) parody of the Harry Potter and King Arthur sagas, the part where Pinocchio is interrogated is a gem (did you catch before that the same guy is doing the voice for Pinocchio and the piggies?), and so is the escape of the ladies from their prison.
Everybody you liked is here, including the Gingerbread Man, the Wolf, and of course the Donkey and Puss and the rest.
the nanny dwarf is just sooo cool.
The story is mainly centered around Shrek trying to get back to the beginning of Shrek No. 1 - with one addition, Fiona- and have his peace in his swamp. Meanwhile, he has to find a new king to replace him, get acquainted with the fact that he is to become a dad, and try to save Far Far Away from Prince Charming and those, who never had a happily ever after before. Quite a lot to do there!
The animation and the technicalities of the background reminded me of fabulous old Walt Disney backgrounds, they were so well-done. if you compare the technique with that of part 1 - well, the development in such a short time is amazing.
I think that it is unfair to go to a third part of a series and expect that the original characters for whom you have gone there have been completely reinvented so that you get the same thrill as you did the first time. The magic of newness is natural to fade.
So - there is quite a decent amount of laughter you can get from Shrek the Third. Go see the movie and enjoy it as I did.