Justin Timberlake sees how the other half lives in "Shrek the Third."

Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy; Puss In Boots, Antonio Banderas; Shrek, Mike Myers; and Fiona's underachiever cousin Artie, Justin Timberlake; pay a visit to the magician Merlin, voiced by Eric Idle, in "Shrek the Third." Click photo for larger image. 'Shrek the Third' Starring: Voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake. Director: Chris Miller. Rating: PG for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action. Web site: http://www.shrek.com/main.html

Not only does he speak for a computer-animated character, but he's a dorky teen named Arthur, not king of the world -- although he could be. When Shrek shows up at a high school looking for Arthur, one of the cool kids snorts, "Artie the king? More like the mayor of Loserville."

But just because someone calls you a loser doesn't mean you are one or should think of yourself that way. That is just one of the lessons imparted in "Shrek the Third," opening in select theaters at 10 tonight and everywhere Friday. The other messages have to do with parenthood and -- hip, hip, hooray -- women not being helpless.

Nevertheless, the movie seems to skew younger than the first two. Credit that to Fiona's pregnancy, Shrek's dream about a seemingly infinite number of infants, the brief appearance of the Donkey-dragon offspring and the visit to the high school, complete with an assembly. And let's not forget about the burping, flatulence and baby vomit.

As "Shrek the Third" opens, Prince Charming has been reduced to performing in dinner theater while Fiona and Shrek fill in for her parents, the queen and ailing king. Fiona's father, who is back to being a frog, is ready to, well, croak. And, for a movie dealing with the death of a parent, "Shrek the Third" handles King Harold's passing with humor, tears, dignity and a classic song.

Before dying, the king tells Shrek he and Fiona are next in line for the throne. "Oh, come on, Dad. An ogre as king? ... There's gotta be someone else," Shrek presses. As it turns out, there is, but he's just a boy and he is far, far away from the kingdom of Far Far Away.

Artie, a new character to the "Shrek" franchise, learns he's in line for the throne of Far Far Away. Click photo for larger image.

As Shrek sets out to find Arthur, Fiona chooses that moment to announce her pregnancy. Shrek, with trusty Donkey and Puss in Boots in tow, grapples with the prospect of fatherhood while Arthur ponders his destiny, Charming plots a coup and Fiona joins some iconic females in a baby shower that goes beyond oohing and aahing over onesies.

"Shrek the Third" brings all of the threads together at the end and reinforces its message that just because someone treats you like a villain or an ogre doesn't mean you are one.

If "Shrek" was a Barry Bonds blast out of the park and "Shrek 2" an inside-the-park homer, "Shrek the Third" is a triple that earns extra credit for its points about parenthood and princess power. The ogre babies look cartoonishly mundane (and a bit like balding, saucer-eyed troll dolls) next to the other characters, and I hope if there's a fourth "Shrek" that it's not a variation on "Cheaper by the Dozen."

Although perhaps we've come to take the animation for granted -- a half-dozen years have passed since the first, after all -- this installment didn't seem as eye-popping or non-stop clever as its predecessors.

The distinctive voice cast, with Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, Rupert Everett as Prince Charming and Julie Andrews and John Cleese as Fiona's parents, is intact.

The introduction of new characters, including Arthur, Merlin (Eric Idle) and some iconic females voiced by Amy Poehler, Cheri Oteri, Maya Rudolph and Amy Sedaris, means less screen time for old favorites such as Donkey and Puss in Boots, who are the victims of a magic mix-up.

As with virtually any franchise, from "Star Wars" to "Spider-Man," it's difficult for the third movie to produce the same sense of wonder as the first. Or even the second, which we said was still enjoyably smart but missing a certain amount of magic.

That goes double the third time around.