REVIEW: Shrek needs to live happily ever after already
GRADE: B-
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Fish and guests stink after three days.”
The same could be said of movie franchises that overstay their welcome and don’t know when to pack up gracefully.
The good news is, “Shrek Forever After” is an improvement on its predecessor, universally acknowledged as the worst in the series. That film was too snarky for its own good and lost the tender charms that made the earlier installments so enjoyable.
With “Shrek Forever After,” the magic is gone but at least the heart is back. Instead of pillaging fairy tales for the material, the screenwriters of “Shrek” 4 chose instead to pattern their film on “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Like George Bailey, our hero (voiced by Mike Myers) begins dreaming of what life was like before domesticity robbed him of his independence and turned the once fearsome ogre into Mr. Mom with three tiny mouths to feed.
Fed up and in need of a break, Shrek makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), that will magically transport him to an alternate reality where he can enjoy one 24-hour day just like it used to be.
But, of course, Rumpelstiltskin is up to no good (didn’t Shrek read the Brothers Grimm?!) and while Shrek is away, inadvertently altering the timeline, Rumpel is seizing power in Far Far Away.
The only way for Shrek to make things right is to befriend his old mates Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), who no longer know him, and win the trust and affection of the Amazonian queen of the ogres, none other than his own wife, Fiona (Cameron Diaz).
It’s not that “Shrek Forever After” is bad; it’s not. It’s just unnecessary. It neither adds anything to the story nor detracts from it. Perhaps, after the disappointing sequel, the filmmakers thought they’d try to go out on a high note.
The film is clever from the starting gate; the first few minutes have enough material to keep adults interested even after it’s clear it won’t survive the first act. After that, the film becomes one gigantic cliche — “The grass is always greener on the other side,” “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” “Be careful of what you wish for, you just might get it” — you take your pick.
The Shrek films have lost their power to charm, and this one never really even tries. Oh, it makes jokes, several of them funny, but almost gone are the usual pop-cultural nods, the subversive sense of humor and the inverted Disney fairy tales that, at first, made the series so endearing.
There is no need for this story to have taken place with these characters. It could have happened just about anywhere, and that’s the problem. Likewise, the 3-D is incidental at best, innocuous at worst.
Kids who were fans of the first two outings will certainly like this one. Adults hoping for the usual double entendres and snide in-jokes — not so much.
At some point, you simply have to say, “And they lived happily ever after. The end,” and mean it.
Shrek Forever After
Cast: Mike Myers, Walt Dohrn, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Cameron Diaz
Director: Mike Mitchell
Theaters: Hollywood, Cinemark, IMAX, Carmike, Chapel Hills, Tinseltown, Gold Hill
Rated: PG (for mild action, some rude humor and brief language)
Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
