SHREK FOREVER AFTER
Mike Mitchell
Josh Klausner, Darren Lemke
93 min.
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, Jon Hamm, John Cleese, Craig Robinson, Walt Dohrn, Jane Lynch, Lake Bell, Kathy Griffin, Mary Kay Place, Kristen Schaal, Meredith Vieira, Ryan Seacrest, Cody Cameron, Larry King, Regis Philbin, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon, Aron Warner
PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language.
Most people won’t purchase the same entrée twice if the first time made them utterly ill. After the dismal offering of Shrek the Third, it’s no surprise that most audiences are ignoring Shrek Forever After, which is a shame because it’s far better than the third installment.
Realizing that the life of a normal person is too mundane for him, Shrek (Mike Myers) explodes in anger storming out of his kids’ birthday party and rails against a pursuing Fiona (Cameron Diaz). Overheard by a vengeance-seeking Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) who had his one chance at taking over the kingdom ruined by Shrek’s rescue of the cursed Princess Fiona, he is presented with the deal of a lifetime. Rumpel presents Shrek with a lucrative offer that would allow him to see how life would be as an ogre again for one day. In exchange, all he has to do is give up one insignificant day from his childhood.
As with all contracts, the deal is in the fine print. Without realizing it, Shrek signs over his birth day, which provides the main thrust of the story. And without his birth, King Harold (John Cleese) signs over his kingdom to break the curse on his fair Fiona. Now, Far Far Away is run by a selfish, greedy Rumpel who oppresses his people and has taken for his soldiers and protectors the entire kingdom’s witch population, all formerly outcasts.
To get it all back, Shrek must convince all those who don’t know him to not only trust him, but accept that “True Love’s Kiss” will break the spell and end Rumpel’s hold over them all.
You shouldn’t be surprised how the story pans out as there are few surprises left in the franchise at this point. The story is well drawn and plotted, though dotted with unnecessary one-liners and painfully rote dialogue. It’s like watching a grade school production of Hamlet produced by multi-millionaires: plenty of technical pizzazz, but immensely lacking in depth.
Where the third film went wrong is that it shifted away from a fairy-tale basis having nearly exhausted the trove of tales out there from which to draw inspiration. King Arthur, as a legend, is a compelling story, but it’s not the kind of fantasy this franchise requires. It may be based on a real person embellished as a folk tale, but it’s not a fable meant to teach the audience a moral lesson. This fourth film, based on the first-born-stealing Rumpelstiltskin, is more in line with the original film and sequel’s concepts.
There are many funny moments in the film: the gladiatorial Gingerbread Man (ConradVernon); the Trojan horse conceit; all of the scenes with Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas); the waffle hole; and the opening scene establishing Shrek’s growing dissatisfaction. Yet for all of the fun moments, there are far too many uninteresting ones that tend to flee the mind shortly after viewing.
The Shrek series has shown a quick diminishment in quality as the general idea becomes older and less energetic. Unlike the Toy Story films, the creators seem more enthused about milking the franchise for money than trying to explore new areas and find a deep resonance that appeals to the audience. Instead, they just perpetually rehash the same content with new stories that feel original, but also feel stale.
That Shrek Forever After is an improvement on the third film isn’t saying a lot. It is still inferior to the second film in the franchise, which was itself a downturn in quality from the original bolstered by Puss in Boots. Word is this is the final flick in the series, but we’ll see how that statement pans out in the next few years, especially considering just after the phenomenal debut of the third, they said there would be two more films, not just this one.
May 27, 2010
Shrek Forever After
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