This summer we're promised "the final chapter" in Shrek Forever After and while Part 4 is certainly an improvement over its predecessor. Well, I guess I should stop expecting these sequels to recapture the magic of the original Shrek. The filmmakers certainly don't seem to think it's a priority.
For some bizarre reason, the Shrek Forever After screenwriters thought that the best way to end this monumentally popular series would be to deliver ... the It's a Wonderful Life concept. Employed countless times in sitcoms and cartoons, this is the pitch in which our main character says something to the effect of "Oh, I wish I was never born!" and poof! we're off to see how Shrek's world would look if he'd never met up with Donkey, Fiona, Puss in Boots, Gingy, Pinocchio, and all the other freaky fairy tale characters.
So instead of one final adventure with all these colorful characters, we're offered an "alternate reality" Shrek who must reacquaint himself with all his old pals. Weird!
There's no denying that the animation is truly lovely -- if certainly nothing revolutionary at this point in the CG game -- and that the actors seem to be having a good time playing their old characters, plus the intention of a warm-hearted "message" is always worthy of note -- but unfortunately Shrek Forever After plays more to the little kids than to anyone else.
Oh sure, our plot sees Shrek pretty much fed up with his role as domesticated daddy ogre, and it raises some familiar points for any young parents in the audience -- but we all know from frame one where the movie is going: The painfully old-hat "just be grateful for what you have" lesson.
As is often the case, Shrek's supporting characters get all the best material. Mike Myers does manage to bring a gruffly lovable attitude to Shrek, but it's nothing that actor hasn't done in the previous chapters. Cameron Diaz's Fiona gets to play an ogre warrior with a real angry streak, but the "girl power!" approach is quickly muted by a hastily-presented subplot that revolves around a tribe of oppressed ogres who must fight back against the evil Rumplestiltskin.
Much of the film feels like a Shrek checklist, truth be told: silly puns and fairy-tale-style visual gags? Check. Whining donkey and frustrated ogre? Check. Pop culture references, broad puns and silly jokes about bodily functions, and lots and lots of familiar rock songs? Check, check, and check -- although I do give Shrek 4 huge points for an amusing dance sequence set to. the Beastie Boys, of all bands. Plus Eddie Murphy (as Donkey) does deliver one of the franchise's funniest lines during an argument with the Gingerbread Man -- which I certainly won't spoil here. Isolated moments shine, like an early montage in which Shrek gets fed up with life and a later sequence set to The Carpenters -- which is really quite funny.
For some bizarre reason, the Shrek Forever After screenwriters thought that the best way to end this monumentally popular series would be to deliver ... the It's a Wonderful Life concept. Employed countless times in sitcoms and cartoons, this is the pitch in which our main character says something to the effect of "Oh, I wish I was never born!" and poof! we're off to see how Shrek's world would look if he'd never met up with Donkey, Fiona, Puss in Boots, Gingy, Pinocchio, and all the other freaky fairy tale characters.
So instead of one final adventure with all these colorful characters, we're offered an "alternate reality" Shrek who must reacquaint himself with all his old pals. Weird!
There's no denying that the animation is truly lovely -- if certainly nothing revolutionary at this point in the CG game -- and that the actors seem to be having a good time playing their old characters, plus the intention of a warm-hearted "message" is always worthy of note -- but unfortunately Shrek Forever After plays more to the little kids than to anyone else.
Oh sure, our plot sees Shrek pretty much fed up with his role as domesticated daddy ogre, and it raises some familiar points for any young parents in the audience -- but we all know from frame one where the movie is going: The painfully old-hat "just be grateful for what you have" lesson.
As is often the case, Shrek's supporting characters get all the best material. Mike Myers does manage to bring a gruffly lovable attitude to Shrek, but it's nothing that actor hasn't done in the previous chapters. Cameron Diaz's Fiona gets to play an ogre warrior with a real angry streak, but the "girl power!" approach is quickly muted by a hastily-presented subplot that revolves around a tribe of oppressed ogres who must fight back against the evil Rumplestiltskin.
Much of the film feels like a Shrek checklist, truth be told: silly puns and fairy-tale-style visual gags? Check. Whining donkey and frustrated ogre? Check. Pop culture references, broad puns and silly jokes about bodily functions, and lots and lots of familiar rock songs? Check, check, and check -- although I do give Shrek 4 huge points for an amusing dance sequence set to. the Beastie Boys, of all bands. Plus Eddie Murphy (as Donkey) does deliver one of the franchise's funniest lines during an argument with the Gingerbread Man -- which I certainly won't spoil here. Isolated moments shine, like an early montage in which Shrek gets fed up with life and a later sequence set to The Carpenters -- which is really quite funny.
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