Shrek the Third

Having dealt with love and the price of being different in his first two film outings, Shrek has to deal with responsibility this time. It comes to him in two forms: as Fiona8217;s father is dying, he wants Shrek to become King; and Shrek is about to become a father.

Shrek initially tries to sneak away from both, but as happens in most fairytales 8212; though the filmmakers would like to call this the greatest fairytale never told 8212; he, Fiona and the babies live happily ever after. The land of Far, Far Away also gets a great King, though since it would be taking matters a little too far, Shrek doesn8217;t take the throne.

While not as funny as Shrek and Shrek 2, Shrek the Third manages to generate a few laughs. As usual, the filmmakers are spot on with their characterisation, whether it is the collegians who make fun of the boy who can8217;t defend himself or the teenager who is easily offended by hints that he is a loser.

However, the most hilarious is the idea to put Snowhite, Beauty, Cinderella and Rapunzel together in the same room. They can put today8217;s teen queens to shame, though they do find redemption later on.

The same can8217;t be said of the villains in their story, whether it8217;s the Queen who thinks she is the fairest of them all or the Evil Stepsister. While Charming rallies them together in the hope of killing Shrek and becoming the new king, the villains of our fairytales remain one-dimensional and bad.

Now, it would be a great idea to have a story based on them. But perhaps that8217;s one fairytale that will remain untold.