Shrek Forever After

Shrek Forever After

Sometimes a sequel in a long-standing franchise is like the return of an old friend. But sometimes a sequel is like that friend who wears out his welcome and just kind of sticks around when everyone else has gone home and you just want to go to sleep. The third film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek the Third, was definitely that friend, and I definitely was not looking forward to the fourth movie. What if you fall asleep and you wake up and the friend is still there???? That is what I thought Shrek Forever After would be.

And yet, as the movie went on, something peculiar happened - I found myself laughing. There is nothing particularly original about Shrek Ever After. We've seen many of the jokes before, but they are well executed and made me smile.

The plot isn't even particularly original - it is basically an adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life. But that might be the film's strength. The franchise had written itself into a corner. It had ceased being a ironic take on Disney's consumerism, and had actually become a consumer empire in of itself. It had degraded from twisting the fairy tales of our youth to a ninety-minute pop culture reference full of other pop culture references. But by showing us a world where Shrek doesn't exist, the filmmakers are able at least temporarily hit the reset button. It is amusing to see what happened to all the famous characters of the past films. If Shrek had never walked out of his swamp, what would Donkey, Puss in Boots, and Ginger Bread Man (my favorite) be up to?

If the movie is not as clever as the first Shrek or have as many belly laughs as the second, at least it is never grating like the third. Overall, it's okay. Certainly nothing you need to rush out and see, but at least the movie rights the ship and gives the franchise a proper farewell. In the end, maybe Shrek Forever After is that friend that stays too long, but at least makes a good joke before he leaves. If the joke is good enough, sometimes that can make the whole ordeal worth it.

MVP: Once again, Antonio Banderas puts his castmates to shame and steals every scene he is in as Puss in Boots. As I am sure you saw from the commercials, in this alternate reality Puss has retired and has gotten enormously fat. This provides fodder for some of the best lines and sight gags in the film (like when Puss is too fat to clean himself). It also gives us our best line of the movie.

BEST LINE: Puss in Boots: "Feed me...if you dare!!!"

TRIVIA:
As the Head of Story at Dreamworks Animation, Walt Dohrn would perform all the character voices during storyboard meetings.  It seems that no one could do a Rumpelstiltskin anywhere near as entertaining as he could, so he was cast in the part!