Shrek Forever After: Movie Review

Shrek Forever After is the fourth and final installment of the Shrek series brought forth by the ever creative DreamWorks Animations. Once again Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots are intertwined in another adventure of a lifetime. However, this time only Shrek knows it. When domesticated life gets a little dull for Shrek he makes a deal with the tricky Rumplestiltskin just to be a scary ogre again for one day; but to get a day he must give a day.  Without thinking of the consequences Shrek signs away a day from his childhood; which Rumplestiltskin takes to prevent Shrek from being born. This of course means that Princess Fiona is never born and the Kingdom of Far Far Away is in peril.  When Shrek comes to on his day he finds himself in a drastically altered Far Far Away where no one knows him, including Donkey, Puss in Boots and Fiona. So before days end, to save himself and his loved ones he must make Fiona fall in love with him all over again while defeating the evil Rumplestiltskin.

The plot, for a Shrek film, is actually quite complex yet it plays out well. Once again voice actors Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, and Eddie Murphy are back voicing their respective roles. Mike Mitchell helmed the wheels as director. Although being a vetern director Mitchell hasn't done any decent work since his work on the very short-run but hysterical television show Greg the Bunny.  Shrek Forever After was written by Josh Klausner (writer of Shrek the Third) and Darren Lemke (who hasn't written anything worthwhile in his entire life).  As for a script it was alright; nothing to write home about. My only concerns with the script were the excessive references to the very first Shrek  and the fact that it was super dark, content wise. Not a film I would take young children to.

The film as a Shrek film was much better than the atrocity that was Shrek the Third. I'm in the minority of people who have never been a big Shrek fan from the beginning. I didn't like the first one and I hated the third one; although I really, really liked the second one.  I can't really compare Shrek Forever After to any of the other Shrek films since the storyline is very unique (other than the references) from the other Shrek films.

The film itself was, as I mentioned before, quite dark; yet despite being the least funny of the Shrek  films the few laughs it had were good ones.  I didn't think I was going to like fat Puss-in-Boots either; but he ended up being one of the highlights. However, while I wouldn't take very young children to the film it is a good family movie.

As for the 3D - to be honest; I didn't really notice it. The glasses were more of a hassle than anything - but than again I'm not a big fan of 3D. I would suggest you just do the 2D route because the movie is enjoyable regardless of 3D or 2D.

Yes the content is dark; but it has it's moments and the story is actually enjoyable. If Shrek the Third scared you off of Shrek films you should still give this one a chance.

Oh - and as a last minute aside - the character of Rumplestiltskin was introduced very briefly in Shrek the Third in a bar scene; where he appears as a tall and lanky character not a short angry character. Just thought it was interesting to point that out; especially since the third and fourth Shrek were written by the same writer.

3 out of 5 stars.