Some goodbyes are sweet, some call for tears, and some just bring a sigh of good riddance. Shrek Forever After, the final chapter in Dreamworks Animation’s Shrek tale, mixes clever humor and the classic touch of Shrek-twisted fantasy to offer audiences a goodbye that ends with a bang. We fell in love with the green giant nearly a decade ago, and the story still offers the same creative blend we saw in the original. Shrek Forever After gracefully follows in the footsteps of the three preceding films. The familiar use of humor, classic fairytale stereotypes, and a kickin’ soundtrack blend together to create a tale worthy to wrap up such an enjoyable story.
In the fourth and final installment, Shrek (Mike Myers) has become overwhelmed with his family man lifestyle. The monotonous routine of marriage and parenthood push Shrek to long for the days of being a feared ogre answering only to himself. The conniving Rumpelstiltskin offers Shrek a day spent in his old life as an independent ogre living in solitude. After signing Rumpel’s deal Shrek is magically transported to a world where he is still feared and answers to no one.
The bliss wears off when Shrek realizes that this world isn’t exactly what he bargained for and his magic deal may cost him the life he has built with Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and the rest of his friends and family. Shrek and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) team up once again to save Far Far Away and restore their lives back to happily ever after.
The success of the Shrek franchise lies in the movies’ ability to appeal to audiences of all ages. Kids love Shrek’s fairy tale characters and bouts of obvious humor, while adults catch the subtle jokes and jabs that register above any two to twelve year old’s radar. There isn’t much not to love about a twisted fairytale with plenty of modern spins and loveable characters. A carriage with door locks to secure the king and queen in a rundown part of town? A cheering member of the three blind mice faced the wrong way? It’s those kinds of brilliant and hilarious details that make this film so ridiculously charming.
This is the first Shrek film audiences are lucky enough to view in 3D, which is quite a treat. The animation is amazing and the attention to subtle detail is obvious. Character expressions, life-like looking fur and feather coats, and fitting body types and movements bring each character to life, while audiences enjoy the added awesomeness of 3D viewing.
Dreamworks Animation’s only mistake lies in dragging out the four film’s debuts. Releasing each movie throughout a nearly decade-long span may have caused many potential Shrek Forever After movie goers to undeservingly jump off the Shrek bandwagon before it reached its final destination. Kids who saw the original Shrek are now becoming adults who may be hard to convince of the film’s brilliant adult viewer worthy content. Hopefully these dropouts will see the light and give Shrek Forever After the attention it deserves.
Article written by Desiree Roughton on GotchaMovies.com. Reposted with permission.
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