The film picks shortly after where the second movie left off. Shrek and Fiona are busy filling in for King Harold, who is ill. On his deathbed, the king tells Shrek (his son-in-law) that he's to be king next. Shrek wants nothing to do with it, and the king reveals and heir - Fiona's cousin Arthur. While Shrek, Donkey, and Puss-in-Boots embark on a journey to retrieve the heir, Prince Charming schemes with all the fairy tale bad guys to overthrow Far, Far, Away and rule it themselves.
Arthur turns out to be "Artie" - a skinny high school kid who everyone picks on. As he and Shrek return to Far, Far, Away they both discover some self-confidence (Shrek needs this because he's just discovered Fiona is pregnant and he fears fatherhood).
Charming conquers the kingdom, but our heroes are able to save the day. Arthur takes the crown and Shrek retires to his swamp to become, for all appearances, a very loving father.
There are some funny moments. Shrek experiences a nightmare about babies that echoes the unrealistic fears of many first-time fathers-to-be. Another scene that I thought was particularly amusing came when Captain Hook and a bunch of bad guys ambush Shrek and his friends. Hook is seen playing a piano while his henchmen engage Shrek and Co. in one of the movie's big fight scenes. At the beginning Donkey screams: "Look out! They got a piano!" When a redirected cannonball smashes the piano, Hook and his allies retreat. Donkey gets a few other real zingers, as do Shrek and Puss.
Overall, there are times when the movie gets tedious and some of the humor is a bit flat and/or stale. Still, it is "Eminently Watchable" (I may have used this expression once too often). I can give it three antelopes and a baby with confidence.
2 comments:
I have two movie points I would like to bring up, only one a direct response to the post:
Shrek:
Yes, I agree that the movie felt a bit stale and lacking something compared to the first two Shrek films. It makes me wonder if they really needed to do a 3rd and 4th movie instead of perhaps combining the two- the formula may well be wearing out by now. The music didn't have that "cool fringe rock" that the Shrek 1 and 2 did so well with, either.
In the movie's favor, the "fairy tell princess peanut gallery" had some amusing moments, and the movie's use of the old "intentional censoring of 'mystery' swear words with loud noises" gag still makes me laugh remembering it, even if it was probably inappropriate in a movie intended for children as well as adults.
Non-Shrek:
I will take a moment here to gloat on having seen another recent mega-hyped sequel for $4.50/ticket in a rural U.S. cinema on opening night. For fans of that series (on its fifth movie) I recommend it, altough I am unsure of whether or not to expect a review from our antelope-slinging reviewer...
What does one pay for a ticket in the Salt Lake area? Rural cinemas, second-runs and drive-throughs (and cinemas in poor countries) may well be the only places where you don't feel insulted and gouged by the prices charged-although in Japan and the U.K. ticket prices are even higher, if anyone wants to feel a little better about American prices.
Well, to reassure you, I will be posting next week regarding film five in the series that shall remain nameless.
My recent movie experience has shown that I can attend first-run films in the evening for $7.75 and matinees for $6.00. This has led to careful scheduling to see matinees. In more southern parts of Utah (around the greater Provo area), dollar theaters still exist (though they charge $1.50 or $2.00 and it is second-run).
In Maryland a Friday or Saturday night movie included a $0.50 premium and totaled either $9.00 or $9.50.
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