At the end of the last film, Shrek and Fiona reverted to their ogre forms, while Harold sacrificed himself to kill The Fairy Godmother and reverted to his original form as The Frog Prince. Unfortunately, the king has taken ill, forcing Shrek and Fiona to serve as regents. When the king dies, Shrek is reluctant to take the throne, believing the people won't accept an ogre as their ruler (and also learns that Fiona is pregnant). With Puss and Donkey in tow, he sets out to find another heir to the throne; Arthur Pendragon, Harold's nephew voiced by Justin Timberlake. Unfortunately, he's an angsty teenager who's also reluctant to accept his responsibilities. Meanwhile, Prince Charming - who has been reduced to performing in sub-par dinner shows - plots to usurp the throne with the aid of Captain Hook and other fairy tale villains. It's up to Fiona, her mother, and a few fairy tale princesses to escape and fight back.
There's not really much to this one. There's a greater emphasis on slapstick in this one (which isn't to say the others didn't use slapstick). Some of the slapstick is funny, like the scenes of Shrek's regency: when knighting someone, he holds the sword wrong and injures him; when christening a new ship, he prematurely launches it by leaning on it, throws the bottle with such force that it breaks the hull, and then the sails burst into flames as the vessel sinks. And then there's a ball which devolves into chaos, which starts to feel drawn out. Again, there's another joke that's drawn out when the king's on his deathbed. It's like they couldn't decide whether they wanted to be funny or poignant.
On the flip side, there are some jokes which could have been explored a little more. For example, Puss and Donkey swap bodies after being teleported by Arthur's wizard friend Merlin, voiced by Eric Idle. There's one scene where Puss tries to bluff away a few guards with his "cute" form, which doesn't work when he's a donkey. I just wonder if he could have got a fight scene out of it too.
Arthur doesn't have much going for him, and seems to be a stock character who hasn't really been altered in any way. He's at an academy in Worcestershire, which is just a fantasy version of a medieval high school with a couple of archetypes. Again, these characters are all set up, but only appear in one scene.
I actually get a few laughs from some of the villains, especially with how pathetic Prince Charming is. Ian McShane is funny as Captain Hook as well. I especially like how he wheels his piano everywhere, even to fight scenes.
All in all, this one doesn't hold up as well as the previous film, but that was a hard act to follow.
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