Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

The fairy tale universe goes topsy-turvy again in “Shrek the Third,” the latest — and probably not last — entry in the fantastically funny animated comedy series about two adorably messy ogres in love.

This time, Shrek (voice by Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) find themselves running the kingdom of Far Far Away because her froggy father, the king, is about to croak. The green couple would rather romp in their swamp, but they’re stuck in the castle until another suitable ruler can be installed. This requires an adventurous quest, of course, but the plot is the least important element of a “Shrek” movie.

The jokes are what make these crowd-pleasers so pleasant, and “Shrek the Third” is full of them. By now, of course, we are not so surprised to see famous fairy-tale characters providing punch lines. To compensate, the newest chapter pours on the references almost too thickly to keep track of. For starters, just about every mythical villain in kid-lit shows up here, from Captain Hook and Rumpelstiltskin to every wicked witch, evil stepmother and talking tree (from “The Wizard of Oz”) you can remember from old story books.

Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas are back as indomitable Donkey (who now has a brood of flying dragon-donkey offspring) and suave Puss in Boots, although a spell that makes the voices switch is slightly disconcerting. Justin Timberlake voices possible royal replacement Arthur Pendragon and Eric Idle plays the slightly off-balance magician Merlin.

This film goes heavy on girl-power action as Fiona and friends — Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Rapunzel — become a sort of Shrek’s Angels team of heroines.

You can’t expect much originality from a second sequel. The best you can hope for is to spend quality time with beloved characters while they make you laugh. In that sense, “Shrek the Third” succeeds.

We give it a B.

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