Third Time's the Charming

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2007)

Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have truly settled into married life, although for Shrek, the solitude of wedded bliss is somewhat hampered by the duties of a royal, having Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss (Antonio Banderas) as captains, and worst of all, the truly scary prospect of being trapped in all of the above by the passing of King Harold (John Cleese). The ailing royal frog does leave his son-in-law with a timely loophole--the existence of a truly distant relative. While Fiona, Queen Mom Lillian (Julie Andrews), and the rest of the female court attempt to ward off the ambitious yet juvenile Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), who has recruited the greatest fairy-tale villainy to his cause, the guys' latest "whirlwind adventure" brings them into contact with the proposed heir apparent-- classic high school loser Artie (Justin Timberlake).
If you fell in love with the mock product-placement rampant in the second film, or suffer from a short attention span, it's probably best you wait on this one. The essence of the Shrek universe is there for the fans to enjoy, however, with the true star of the film being how the characters have advanced--both technically and dramatically. A higher level of detail is noticeable, from the fluctuating real estate of Far Far Away to the hair of the chinny-chin-chins on the Three Pigs (look well, it's actually there!). The in-jokes are rather clever, but the filmmakers have taken a bold step by showing enough faith in the characters to actually explore them, as they did in the first movie. Although this is technically the longest of the three films, it seems somewhat short--since everyone has to travel a long way in a short time, and admittedly, the subplot of Charming devising a takeover by an alliance of fairy-tale villains harks back to earlier Shrek wannabe "Happily N'ever After"--if something appears in your film that reminds us of another film, that other film should at least be...well, good. However, there are more good points: Timberlake doesn't ruin things--the character actually suits him, and rejoice concerned fans: he doesn't sing! Eric Idle provides his typical offbeat diversion as a Merlin whose robe is embarrassingly too short. All in all, things are kept enticingly light, eschewing wild stunts and nutty gags for the sake of a story. A move that deserves kudos on it's own. Bottom line, Shrek's about comedy more than anything else. Did I laugh? Yup, and quite a bit, so that made it worthwhile. If there's a single audience for the film, it's probably new parents--if you love these characters, check out their kids!!