Shrek Forever After

It's not really cool to like Dreamworks Animation anymore. Sure, they're not Pixar. Sure, they're too hung up on star power and pop culture references. But I've still enjoyed the majority their films more than I have a lot of what's out there. And I love the first two "Shrek" movies. Their funny, entertaining, terrifically animated, and, too me, some of the best animated love stories that have been made. Most fairy tale romances perpetuate the idea that love is for beautiful people (even the masterpiece "Beauty and the Beast" has it's cake and eats it too on this point), and Princes and Princesses are better than common people. "Shrek"'s idea of finding happiness in who you are was much more palatable to me. i found the first film a delight, and the second even better.

But the third was only okay. The humor wasn't nearly as clever or funny, and the heart just wasn't there like it used to be. "Shrek Forever After" isn't as good as those first two. But it's a big step back in the right direction.

The story begins with Shrek getting used to being a father. He loves Fiona and the kids, but he misses his old life as a menacing ogre. He's seen more as a lovable tourist attraction now, and he doesn't like it. So, he makes a deal with the mysterious Rumpletiltskin (surprisingly NOT voiced by a name actor) to get one day back in his old life. In exchange, he gives up one day from his past. A day from his childhood that he doesn't even remember.

Unfortuntaely, that day turns out to be the day he was born, and this leads to an "It's a Wonderful Life" scenario where Shrek doesn't know Fiona, Donkey, Puss-in-Boots, or any of his friends, and Rumplestiltskin rules the Kingdom with a tiny iron fist. The resulting story is a great deal of fun, with Fiona now a warrior leading an ogre rebellion, the Gingerbread Man fighting as a gladiator against Animal Crackers, and so forth. The humor isn't back to it's highest heights, but there are a good number of genuine laughs. And the heart is back bigtime. I found "Shrek Forever After" surprisingly touching..

Okay, it's not as good as "Toy Story 3" is likely to be, nor is it as good as "How to train your Dragon". but I had a blast with "Shrek Forver After" Evren Buyruk

When I found out that a fourth Shrek movie was being made, it made me frown because it seemed pretty needless, especially that the last movie was such a bore. But then again, if you take the storyline into consideration, this becomes a fitting final chapter to formally close the Shrek series. The movie is originally entitled SHREK FOREVER AFTER, but in other regions of the world including ours, it is entitled SHREK: THE FINAL CHAPTER, so it's obvious.

First we go to the more unpleasant aspects; this movie works more as a fantasy-adventure movie rather than a comedy. That's because the humor factor of Shrek has gone old already. This movie seems to squeeze the very last drop of what is left of the Shrek series' dried out desert of humor. Sure, it may make us give out a chuckle here, a chuckle there, but this Shrek movie cannot make us laugh out loud anymore. When you look back at its title "Shrek the Final Chapter" you would realize that this movie does seem to apologize with the fact that this'll be the last and probably an admission that they could not squeeze any more decent thing out of the Shrek saga after this one; it's a final effort to make one last buck.

On the other hand, Shrek's main story aspect is a little more interesting than its humor. As I said earlier, this movie is better as a fantasy adventure because we do get to see an alternate reality where Shrek is back into being an outcast Ogre and everybody else who was originally part of his circle of friends has not met him yet. Eventually, they get into an adventure wherein he must face a new enemy, a new problem, and he even gets to meet other ogres and an ogre resistance army that pretty much reminded me of Warcraft (the old-school Warcraft 2 to be exact). In this bizarro world, Donkey has not met him, Puss has become obese, and Fiona is the leader of the Ogre resistance. Shrek must go through this alternate universe and survive it before the day passes and a curse will consume him for good. Shrek gets to have some action with a horde of witches and must face the dragon once again. I could not say that the action was impressive but it has its little cool moments. I particularly loved the chain skull weapons that the witches use.

In addition, this movie works also as a family domestic drama where it maturely deals with the simple family issue of boredom and being sick of how repetitious family life can be. I daresay that the film can work as a satire or perhaps a metaphor that some married men can learn from. There is one sequence in the movie that does capture this crisis; I am talking about the scenes where we see Shrek realize that despite the fact that he does live a happy life, it can get pretty dull and annoying at times, but then again that's life.

Perhaps it becomes boring because many of us choose not to grow up; many of us choose to not let go of what our past lives were. That is what happens to Shrek in this movie. To escape the mediocrity of a family life, he wishes to relive the moments when he was still just a normal ogre again. And because of this, he puts his family life in jeopardy. Shrek 4's tale comes full circle in the sense that it questions if Shrek did have a "happily ever after" ending in the past three movies, and puts one last fantastic circumstance to let him live out a reality that this never happened.

And lastly, Shrek 4's main potential lies in its romance. With an alternate reality story, Shrek faces a Fiona that has never met him. Therefore, Shrek must find out some way to make Fiona fall in love with him all over again. If you ask me, the romantic aspect of this movie is as innovative as the first Shrek movie, in ways that it tells mature subject matter in the guise of fantasy. The Fiona of the alternate reality mirrors the plight of women who gave up on romance, and one scene certainly negates the falsity of most fairy tales with a line that goes something like: "a mere kiss does not solve everything" It negates other fantasies like "Sleeping Beauty" or "Snow White" because it destroys the superficial aspect of those obsolete fairy tales with a more realistic approach, because indeed, a kiss is nothing if there is no true love that goes with it. In my opinion, Shrek 4 succeeds in this aspect.

Shrek may not be the best movie this summer, or it might not be the funniest Shrek movie, but it certainly is one that is very rich story-wise. Just as his line in the first movie went "I have layers" and there certainly are deeper layers to this story rather than one that will just make you laugh. Of course, this works out as a great family movie, but it is certainly perfect for couples, most especially married couples, and parents alike. I give SHREK FOREVER AFTER a.k.a. SHREK: THE FINAL CHAPTER a Matinée rating for single serving; and a Full Price rating for family servings.

I saw "Shrek Forever After" on special screenings and I really hoped it would live up to the first 2 films. But at the end of the day, it wasn't as good or magical. I kind of felt disappointed because even though the Third Installment was bad I was hoping they went back and recognize their mistakes. But this movie does have its strong points, it was quite funny and entertaining. There were moments in there that felt like the first two films, and overall it is a very enjoyable ride that even though it doesn't live quite up to the first two films. It is worth your money just to have fun with it.

7.2/10 I'd recommend people to see this film, but don't go in it with HIGH expectations.

I really enjoyed the first "Shrek" film back in 2001 and was an even bigger fan of "Shrek 2," which came out just three short years later. Then "Shrek the Third" hit theaters and I couldn't believe what I was watching. Not only did the third film have a horrible story but the charm and wit of all the original characters was gone. I was actually angry that I paid money to see the third film and really didn't want anything to do with the "Shrek" franchise any longer. To my surprise even after hearing nothing but complaints about the third one, the final chapter of the Shrek saga was still being made. When I saw the trailer for "Shrek Ever After" I was less than impressed probably because I was still angry about the last film. Regardless of how I felt as well as many over movie lovers, "Shrek Ever After" was released into theaters just three weeks ago and received average reviews. This past weekend, I decided to go see the film with my girlfriend just to see how the final chapter ends...

"Shrek Ever After" picks up right where "Shrek the Third" left off. Shrek and Fiona are now married with kids. They are the most respected and sought after family of Far Far Away and everyone in town loves them. One day after going through what seems to be a midlife crisis, Shrek becomes flustered and flips out at his kids birthday party. He makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to give him one day of his life in order for him to feel what it is like to be free again without having kids, a wife, and of course being respected instead of feared. This is where the plot thickens as Rumpelstiltskin tricks Shrek into signing the contract that states he has never been born. The only way to break this contract is to make Fiona, who has no clue who Shrek is, fall in love with him all over again.

As soon as the credits began to roll, my first response was that wasn't too bad. Given the fact that "Shrek the Third" was a slap in the face to the Shrek franchise, I was somewhat impressed with the final entry. I wouldn't say I was blown away with it but it was like a masterpiece compared to the third film. The character Rumpelstiltskin was actually a fun character and I liked his personality. That was one of the main things that really made the film work especially since Prince Charming in the last film was such a boring and uninteresting character. I also thought the whole reliving the earlier chapters of Shrek's life worked well and I liked what they did with Fiona in this film. They made her a much tougher character. Then of course last but not least Puss in Boots, who is the best character in all the films.

Even though I enjoyed this film, I have to admit I am glad this was the final chapter because I can't see this franchise surviving another film. While the storyline about the midlife crisis and appreciating what you have was good especially for this type of film, it just seemed like the writers were pushing it a bit. I don't know exactly why it seemed that way but I guess its just that most of it seemed like more of the same. The charm was there unlike in the third but it wasn't as potent as it was in the original two films. That's probably my main complaint about the film, this felt like a movie that was just made as a good bye to the franchise. It wasn't truly necessary but almost served as an apology for the 3rd film. I loved how they never even addressed the main character from the 3rd film. It was like he never existed, which I have to admit was pretty funny.

In the end, I can't really say anything too harsh about the film. I think kids will like it although it is a bit more dark and depressing than the other chapters. I would say out of all of the films, this one is geared more towards adults than anyone else. The movie was also deeper than all the other entries. It was a decent final film and I applaud the writers and director for trying to redeem the franchise. I wouldn't say its a must own but for those who enjoy these characters and enjoy Shrek as a whole, I recommend seeing the final chapter at least once. Sure its no where near as unique or fun as the original two but if you want to pretend the third film never happened this one would be a good filler for that. It's not on a Pixar level as far as quality goes but in terms of a decent animated flick at the box office, "Shrek Ever After" is a good choice.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Shrek Ever After" is a 7 out of 10. Take the kids, the family or who ever else likes the franchise and just enjoy the simple yet fun final chapter.

Well it was bound to happen, most animation saga's or trilogy's end eventually and some better than others. With Shrek Forever After this is the case, still packed full of gags, funny moments and hilarious one liners its a good end to a fun enjoyable franchise. We all hoped it would also end this way, in a positive way as the last 11 years has been Shrek sequels some better than others. With this final adventure, old characters are reunited and new ones enter the fray.

Plus we also get a fresh new setting for this latest and final tale, some good dialogue too and of course improved animation. Considering this was always gonna go up against Toy Story 3, we knew it would be a close fight for the throne of the summer blockbuster. Otherwise, however Shrek Forever After has done a good job of grabbing it for me until I see Toy Story 3, until then I believe this is the best animation summer blockbuster of the year.

If you want quick gags, laughs and family fun Shrek Forever After is for you and also for fans of the franchise.