Shrek III

Having just sat through my cousin's graduation where many people were identified by who their ancestors were - Winston Salem III, John Paul II, etc., I kept hearing Shrek the Third in my head - wouldn't it be funny if that was the name read someday, wouldn't be worse than some of the names read. However, like the dilution of the gene pool over generations, Shrek the Third bears only a passing resemblance to the original. Some of the same jokes were there - as though passed down through the family - and a few new ones that weren't as funny or as original. The funniest bits were the addition of the ladies of fairy tales - Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty - arriving for a baby shower only to be captured and have to buck their stereotypes and save themselves rather than waiting for their princes to do it. The Charlie's Angels Princess kicked a lot of butt, but that was pretty much the exciting part of the movie. The original was fun watching Donkey and Shrek banter, and this lacked any of that. It was also funny because each of the fairy tale creatures were held to their own story lines, and now in the third, they're just trying to step outside their stories - Captain Hook wants to plant daffodils - which is only funny for a second and doesn't actually make a story worth watching. Worth watching on DVD, but don't bother going to the theater.