Review: Shrek 3

I love summer Fridays. Everyone seems to take a long weekend - and my friend Susan and I often head out to a matinee. Today, we celebrated the start of our summer by seeing "Shrek 3." A good choice of a weekday matinee - not many others in the audience, and only a few (fairly well-behaved) children.

The film takes up where #2 left off. Shrek and Fiona are serving as temporary monarchs of the kingdom of Far, Far Away - her dad, the "Frog King" is ill. Shrek is clearly ill-suited for this role and, when the King dies (in a weird funny/sad scene), he must either rule as King or find a suitable substitute. He sets off in search of cousin Artie, who is a nerdy teen at Worcestershire Academy. They return to FFA, only to find that Prince Charming has enlisted the aid of other fairy-tale baddies to take over the kingdom. Of course, all ends well.

What I love about the Shrek movies is the adult humor contained in them. Much of the dialogue sails over the heads of the young'uns in the audience, aimed clearly at their parents. The animation is awesome - it's sometimes hard to believe that these aren't real people. And the voice actors are wonderful - new additions are Justin Timberlake as Artie and Eric Idle as Merlin.

Lots of fun new characters, too. The baddies include Red Riding Hood, Captain Hook, several wicked witches, and Rumplestiltskin. Assisting a pregrant Fiona in defending the kingdom are some spoiled princesses - Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty (who keeps falling asleep!).

And my favorite character is, of course, Puss in Boots!

A fun film, for all ages. Adults, don't feel bad for going without kids - there's lots for you to enjoy!