Three years ago, Shrek the Third opened to lukewarm response from teenage and adult audiences after the first two films were unequivocal hits among those crowds (and kids, as always). It wasn’t long after that DreamWorks Animation announced the next film would be the final installment of the hugely popular franchise that took the movie world by storm with the original film’s unexpected success back in the summer of 2001.
In Shrek Forever After, Rumpelstiltskin makes his first appearance in the fairy tale-comedy series. Shrek begins to feel like he has lost some of his Ogre ways as he settles into life as a husband and father. As the pressure builds up, he begins to wonder what life would have been like had he never strayed from his Ogre lifestyle. Rumpelstiltskin jumps at the chance to make Shrek an offer: he gets one day back in his old life in exchange for giving up a day. The ulterior motive of Rumpelstiltskin: to prevent Shrek and Fiona from ever meeting so that he himself can become ruler of Far Far Away.
The film takes on many inspirations from It’s a Wonderful Life but it also has done away with the vast majority of pop culture references that partly defined the first three films. The writers instead chose to bring things full circle by emphasizing the characters and how their friendship evolved no matter the circumstances of a different timeline. There is still a great amount of humor but those expecting modern-day references in the amount given by the first two films may be a bit disappointed.
Shrek Forever After won’t redefine the genre nor will it ever be as loved as the first two films in the franchise, but it is still a vast improvement upon the third film, with a stronger (and more relevant) story that will serve as a nostalgic reminder for why we came to love Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey to begin with. Puss-In-Boots, sadly, doesn’t get a lot of screen time in this one but that may be mostly due to the fact that the studio is prepping a spin-off feature film for the character due out in either 2011 or 2012.
All in all, Shrek Forever After should yet another film loved by the kiddies but if you’re among the older crowds disappointed in the last film then it is worth giving a chance. Ultimately the biggest flaws of the film rest in the fact that it had to follow a very mediocre second sequel, has released smack in between the word-of-mouth hit How To Train Your Dragon and the hugely anticipated Toy Story 3, and has ultimately succumbed to simple franchise fatigue. There’s nothing particularly fresh the film has to offer but it should still provide for an entertaining 90 minutes to anyone that has fallen in love with these characters over the last nine years.
