Posted on 31 May 2010

Shrek Forever After

Voice Cast Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas

Directed by Mike Mitchell

Release date: June 17

Rating TBA

 

MGM vs. bankruptcy. The fan community vs. Michael Bay. Gary Busey vs. sanity. The film industry is filled with rivalries; one of the most interesting and profitable of which has been the battle waged between ‘toon titans Pixar and DreamWorks. After releasing eerily similar films in 1998 (DreamWorks launched Antz in October of that year, while Pixar came out with A Bug’s Life the following month), each company has strived to best the other with flashy stories and even flashier animation.

 

Having spent the better part of a decade giving the world karate-chopping pandas, lonely robots and a host of other memorable characters, Pixar and DreamWorks now have a stable of classics to keep them rolling in royalties and product tie-ins for the next bazillion years or so. However, even with their certified brilliance, neither studio is exempt from producing the occasional stinker, meaning that for every Monsters Inc. there is a Cars, and for every Shrek, we get saddled with a Shrek Forever After.

 

In the fourth – and allegedly last – instalment in DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise, the big ogre (Mike Myers) has settled down into domesticity with his lovely green bride, Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their three sprogs. Although his missus and chatty pal Donkey (Eddie Murphy) are content to live the quiet life, Shrek is secretly itching for the good old days when he was free to unleash his ogre-ness at will.

 

While brooding over his lost bad-assery, Shrek has a not-so-chance encounter with Rumpelstiltskin; a huckster who offers him the chance to be a “real” ogre for a day, in exchange for Shrek giving Rumpelstiltskin a day from his childhood. Before you can say “obvious plot twist”, Shrek has signed a contract with the sly stranger, only to find himself bitterly regretting his actions when he realises that Rumpy has stolen the day he was born, meaning that he never met Donkey, rescued Fiona or created the idyllic life which he so foolishly took for granted. Now, Shrek must battle Rumpelstiltskin to return order to the world – and to stop himself from vanishing from it.

 

Verdict:

If viewed as a stand-alone film, perhaps Shrek Forever After wouldn’t be so unsatisfactory. However, having seen the brilliantly bonkers original and its equally impressive sequel, it is impossible not to draw comparisons between this Shrek and those that came before it, and it is also impossible not to be disappointed by the result, which is about as stale as the Gingerbread Man’s gumdrop buttons. Although the under-10 crowd will undoubtedly be wowed by the slick graphics and non-stop slapstick, the magic has gone out of Shrek and his movies, and the film’s sporadic funny moments (usually provided by Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots, whose wit has expanded along with his girth), do not come often enough to live up to its towering comedic pedigree.

 

Rebecca Lake