I had high hopes for this movie, but it didn’t live up to my expectations.

I have seen the previous two films in the “Shrek” series numerous times and I thought both of them were funny. They also maintained their humor on repeated viewings, sometimes even getting better. “Shrek the Third” may not get any better and that is scary.

The film opens up with a great sequence involving Prince Charming and dinner theatre and then bogs down with a rather depressing re-introduction to the main characters and the death of Fiona’s father, back in his frog form. Shrek is next in line to take the throne, which is something he doesn’t want, and as Fiona starts to hint around at adding some children to their family, Shrek is hesitant about that as well. The film seems to be about people not wanting responsibility and then realizing that they just need to get with the program anyway.

Instead of assuming his place as ruler of Far, Far Away, Shrek travels to Worcestershire and finds Artie, a picked upon teen who is also an heir to the throne. While Shrek, Donkey and Puss are trying to get Artie back to the kingdom, Fiona and her princess pals (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel and an Ugly Stepsister) are taken hostage by Charming and his group of baddies - all the villains who lost when other characters had their happy endings. The laughs here are sporadic. I found myself wanting more of the princesses and the villains and less of Shrek and his buddies. Unfortunately I didn’t get it.

The film did give us some bits with a very underused Eric Idle as Merlin and a really good climax involving more theatre with Charming as he attempts to take the throne, but something was missing from this installment and I think it was just a sense of fun.

I’m not against Shrek maturing, but the laughs don’t have to die completely when you get married and have kids. The first two movies had a lot of laughs - many times in the background of scenes - but I thought this movie fell short of the previous films laugh quota.

Maybe I’ll like this better the next time I see this, but my expectations for the second viewing will be considerably lower.

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