Shrek Forever After – Review

There’s no denying that nearly a decade ago, Shrek not only warm audiences into its arms and also made DreamWorks a legitimate contender to Disney, err, Pixar, but we can safely say that the sequels have not been good. It’s a cash cow, that’s for sure, and as long as kids beg their parents to go see his latest adventures, there’s no stopping another sequel. Aiming to fully conclude the franchise, the constantly renamed fourth Shrek film needed to do one thing and one thing only:  be better than Shrek the Third. That shouldn’t be hard since that film felt like the warm droppings of a donkey, to put it mildly.

Add the tag line The Final Chapter, mix in some 3D, and magically Shrek Forever After is better than its predecessor.

Phew.

For all of the new bells and whistles, Shrek Forever After is still rather average. It’s not that exciting, memorable, or funny, sadly, but most will be fine with the little distraction it provides. The film explores the big green guy’s mid-life crisis and his wish for one day to be free like he once was. It’s not that original, but did it need to be? I don’t think so. After the abysmal third film, all this one had to be was passable. And it is. The perils of fatherhood, some Shrek-like twists on It’s a Wonderful Life, and (oddly) no pop culture jokes, go a long way from the American Idol second film and whatever was the third film.

The voice cast is fine, the animation better than the last film, the 3D enjoyable, and an okay villain in Rumpelstiltskin, might not seem to glowing, but hey, it could be worse. Like way worse. They could have never made this and Shrek the Third would have stained our brains forever. After one of their best films as a studio, in How to Train Your Dragon, seeing this feels like they backtracked a bit too far. While it barely makes a fuss, Shrek Forever After or Shrek The Final Chapter or whatever DreamWorks marketing says it is, can be seen as a good sequel, if only because the last one was so awful. Just don’t tell him he left his glass slipper, because it’s midnight, and we want to be left alone.

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