A Shrek take, on the King Arthur story.

Rating: Null/10 (7 January 2008)

At least the three Shrek stories are each unique, and only build on characters developed in the earlier ones. I will still think, as I suppose most will, that the first one was the best.
Here Shrek and Fiona visit her parents in Far, Far Away land, but dad, the King (as a frog) is ill and dying. Shrek and Fiona are made temporary King and Queen, but they just aren't cut out for the job, especially Shrek, as almost everything he gets involved in goes wrong.
So most of the story is the search for the person who will become King. Prince Charming desperately wants to become King Charming, but the dying king had Arthur, or Artie, in mind. Analogous to the traditional King Arthur story, this Artie is young and small, and often picked on by others.
This movie is a bit darker than the first two, in that both Fiona and Shrek become imprisoned separately, and there is talk of killing Shrek, and also of killing Artie. But Artie gives a speech to the bad guys about "haven't you ever wanted to get out of your own way and become the person you really wanted to?"
The animation is superb, and the characters that are supposed to be people, like Artie, look very life-like. As in traditional film making, where camera movement is used to add interest to a scene, the animation simulates all the various camera movements we have become used to.