Shrek Forever After

A colleague of mine gave this one a bad review but I found it to be not too bad a watch. It certainly doesn’t measure up to the previous Shreks but I must say that it gave me quite a few laughs tonight.

I am glad I caught it instead of just listening to opinions cos’ I definitely needed something light this week to take the edge off. The story isn’t original but it certainly was fun to see the characters cast differently in this alternate universe sorta tale.

Shrek Forever After is fun for the whole family. Rumpelstiltskin is a delightfully evil-lish sorta of villain and I really liked Walt Dohm’s voicing of the character. Ha ha!

I give Shrek Forever After a 3 out of 5 cos’ of the laughs and also because the 3D made me dizzy.

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Shrek Forever After is reportedly the final chapter of the Shrek series.  It finds Shrek living the happy family life with his wife Fiona and 3 kids, with frequent visits by old friends Puss n Boots, Donkey and his kids.  Occasionally he’s frustrated over his lack of privacy due to family obligations and his celebrity (Tourists often drive by his home to get a glimpse of him). Tensions come to a boil at a his babies first birthday, where he wishes for his old simple free single life.

At this point he meets the films villain Rumpelstiltskin, who holds a longtime grudge against Shrek, but Shrek doesn’t know this. In a true Faustian moment Rumpelstiltskin lures him in and offers a magic deal where he goes to a world where he was never born and is free to be a true Ogre again.

Shrek is happy at first to be free to do as he pleases, but soon realizes he’s in a nightmare world where Rumpelstiltskin rules the kingdom of Ever After. In a nod to It’s a Wonderful Life, Shrek sees the fate of many of the franchises characters who have now never known Shrek. Puss N Boots is fat and spoiled. Donkey works for Rumplestiltskin. My favorite is the Gingerbread Man, who is a hardened gladiator that battles other gingerbread creatures for the townpeoples amusement.

The main plot point is Shrek has 1 day to find Fiona and get a kiss of true love from her in order fix reality. He finds Fiona has become a hardened warrior leading an army of Orges (as far as I remember we never saw other Orges in previous entries), and her militant disposition makes Shrek’s task even more challenging.

Still you know how it turns out. The climax should have been a real tear jerking scene, but it wasn’t at all, and in fact was just a tad drawn out. It’s not nearly as laugh out loud funny as previous entries, but is still fun to watch. The 3-D effects were ok, but nothing really jumped out at you. (Still it was better than the pitiful 3-D of Clash of the Titans.)

The word is the this will be the last Shrek. Who knows. But as I said three years ago Shrek might be the best film series ever, as it doesn’t have a single bad entry. Every one is at least good, if not great. 8.5/10.

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Last updated: 2010-07-08 19:07:50 by jemurr

RATING 7/10

BOTTOM LINE: Fun and watchable, and a distinct improvement over the dismal third entry in the franchise, “Shrek Forever After” does however create a sense of lethargy that would suggest that it is more than appropriate that this is the last instalment in the franchise.

THE GOOD: Having mined the ironic take on the ‘happily ever after’ fairy tale in the first three films, this fourth film makes the smart move of introducing the character of Rumpelstiltskin as the chief antagonist and through his crafty dealings, creates an alternate universe in which Shrek never saved Fiona. Free from the constraints of the established characters and setup, except for Shrek who does the deal with Rumpelstiltskin to return to how things were before meeting Fiona, the film manages to introduce some fresh elements, with both Donkey and Puss In Boots being the main beneficiaries in terms of change. Fiona is great too as the ogre rebel leader, while Rumpelstiltskin is a good, snarky antagonist. The film is quite fun in many places, and its premise allows it to be more interesting in some sense than the previous two films in the franchise (although the second film is much better executed than this one). “Shrek Forever After” is a huge improvement on the lacklustre third film, largely thanks to its alternate universe take and portrayal of its core characters in a new light.

THE BAD: You cannot help but feel a sense of lethargy when watching this film. Although the premise of this entry allows for some fresh elements to be introduced, there is still a feeling that Shrek has been there and done that, and you know that he will ultimately make things right. Any one hoping for a return to the witty banter and energy of the first film are likely to be disappointed. Also, there is absolutely no reason for this film to be in 3D; it is yet another example of Hollywood mining the higher ticket prices for a better financial result. The picture was dark and did not utilise the 3D gimmick in any meaningful way. “Shrek Forever After” is best left for home viewing, where the cost is undoubtedly cheaper.

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Review:  I have gone on record as saying this may be the worst summer for movies in the last 10 years.  Besides 'Toy Story 3' and 'Inception' there has been nothing that has held my interest and nothing that I am dying to see.  I was hoping this movie would surprise me and actually be good.  I was wrong.

After a lackluster 3rd movie I'm not even sure why they felt the need to make a fourth one.  The story wasn't unfinished and the arc of this movie wasn't necessary for the series.  They probably just figured they would make another movie and pump some more money from the franchise while they could.

I have little tolerance when movies in a series go back and "fill in the gaps" of one of the previous movies with a scenario that doesn't quite fit, just so they have material for an entire film.  That is how 'Shrek Forever After' plays out.  The story surrounds Rumplestilskin and how he was supposed to gain control over Far Far Away a long time ago.  Princess Fiona's parents were so intent on lifting her curse they were about to sign away their kingdom to Rumple when they had heard that Fiona had been rescued.  Rumple has been harboring ill feelings about this for many years and they have all been directed at Shrek.

One day, when Shrek is fed up with the routine of his current life he strikes a deal with Rumple to get "one more day" as a real ogre.  Only catch is you have to "give a day to get a day" and that means that one day from Shrek's past will have to be wiped out to make room for this day.  Only Rumple tricks Shrek and takes the day he was born, altering reality forever.  Shrek has till the end of his 24 hours to make things right and reverse the deal or Far Far Away will stay like this forever. 
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This movie wasn't quite failure, it was just unnecessary.  The actors didn't seem to be having as much fun with their roles as they did in the first two and seemed to be going through the motions for the final installment.  The movie just didn't work for me.  The storyline represented a decent premise and it tried really hard, and there were some funny parts, but it didn't feel like the same effort was put forth as was on the first two, which is what made this series so great to begin with.  All in all, I would say wait till video for this one.

Shrek Forever After is the fourth, and most likely the last, installment of the Shrek franchise.  It's also probably the best one since the first.  The original was loved not only by children but also by grown-ups because of all the clever inside jokes that were really aimed at the adults;  there were many funny references to other popular movies.
This one begins by showing us how Shrek is now a family man and life has become pretty redundant.  There's the usual routine of taking care of the kids and not getting to enjoy any personal time to himself.  It makes him miss the old days when he lived alone in the forest and most people were simply afraid of him, so he had plenty of privacy and was able to do whatever he wanted.  Now he even gets daily visits from a celebrity tour bus of people coming to watch him.  Shrek seems to be having a mid-life crisis.  That's when Rumpelstiltskin comes along who has some magic tricks up his sleeve.  He offers Shrek the opportunity to enjoy a day of solitude just like he used to have.  But of course it comes at a cost.
The movie then veers into It's a Wonderful Life territory as Shrek jumps at the chance to spend a day as his old self.  To make a long story short, Rumpelstiltskin changes things so that no one knows who Shrek is anymore.  He has no family or anything.  This was supposed to last for only a day but Rumpelstiltskin comes up with a clever way to make it permanent.  Shrek comes across familiar characters who now don't even recognize him, including Donkey who still has all the funniest lines.  He also comes across Fiona who is no longer his wife in this alternate reality, and Shrek must figure out a way to make things right again so he can have her back.  The movie is sort of an animated parable telling you to enjoy what you have because you would surely miss it when it's gone.  This is supposedly the final Shrek movie so hopefully audiences will enjoy this endearing character now that he will soon be gone as well.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-philadelphia/danny-porcaro

Plot: Now a family man, Shrek (Mike Myers) misses the days when he was a feared ogre and lived by himself.  After meeting con-artist Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), Shrek signs a deal that will allow him to be the ogre he was for one day, giving up a day of his own.  Little does Shrek know, he signs over the day he was born.  Shrek is sent to an alternate universe where he was never born and Rumpelstiltskin now rules Far, Far, Away as a dictator.  Shrek has 1 day to reverse the curse.

Shrek Forever After is the definition of a movie going through the motions.  The movie introduces a great villain and has a solid story, but these characters are just tired to the point where no alarm clock can wake them up.  I chuckled and enjoyed myself, but that was only at the new stuff.  They do nothing new with Shrek himself, and that’s kind of the problem considering the movie is called Shrek. 

The positives though make this worth seeing.  The series has always had great villains.  In the first one it was John Lithgow’s Lord Farquaad.  Shrek 2 brought us the uproarious Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders).  Even the third Shrek, by far the worst one, had Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and a plethora of fairy tale bad guys.  And now in Shrek Forever After we have the squirmy, but hilarious Rumpelstiltskin.  The best jokes in the film derive from him.  Whether he’s asking for one of his specialty wigs or feeding his really funny bird Fifi, I thoroughly enjoyed this character.  His army of witches was also a nice touch.

The story is also very strong.  Yea, alternate universes and the “what if you were never born” storyline have been done to death, but they kept it fresh.  I like the army of ogres a lot, and it was great to see one of my favorite characters, Gingy the Gingerbread Man (Conrad Vernon) as this rough and tough gladiator-type soldier.  One of the main characters they do manage to keep fresh is Fiona (Cameron Diaz).  She is the bad ass leader of the ogre army, but they still keep the heart of the character alive.  That’s what I wanted from the other characters and why the movie unfortunately falls short.

When Shrek came onto the scene in 2001, he was a fresh character.  A fairy tale hero unlike any we’ve ever seen before.  In the fourth installment, he’s just bland to the point where I was looking at my watch whenever he was on screen.  Mike Myers and the writers just couldn’t do anything new with this character.  The same goes for Donkey (Eddie Murphy).  Probably one of the funniest characters in recent memory, but here its just the same old shtick.  Gee, you think he’ll sing pop songs from the last 15-20 years.  Yup.  Because of this alternate timeline, Donkey meets Shrek for the first time again.  It could have been interesting to see that relationship develop from the start again, but it’s lazy here.  It’s just Donkey basically saying, “Yea, I don’t really know you, but whatever, I’ll go along with you.”

One of the characters that really pissed me off was Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas).  Talk about a cheap trick to put a different spin on the character.  He’s the same character, but fat.  That’s it.  And then they just get some really cheap laughs from him being fat.  This was another fresh character introduced in Shrek 2, but here they just add pounds…really disappointing.

Will this really be the last Shrek as promised?  I hope so.  Although the main characters are boring, the new elements introduced are pretty good.  I’m glad they made this because it’s a better wrap-up then the last one, but I think we’re done here.  Please no Shrek the Fifth, or Shrek Fifthever After or…just don’t make a fifth one.

Rating: 6 out of 10 (‘meh’) 

Last updated: 2010-05-23 20:39:49 by danjewish