REVIEW: ‘Shrek Forever After’

Closing out the “Shrek” series (really, honest), “Shrek Forever After” has our loveable ogre making the wrong deal with the wrong person at the wrong time, and making a big mess of the whole universe.

After being pushed and bugged and pestered at his children’s first birthday party, Shrek has decided that he prefers the life of a “real” ogre, being chased with pitchforks and torches, hated by everyone, screamed at, and of course, being the subject of wanted posters everywhere. So, in a moment where I’m assuming he is drunk (judging by the pile of “eyeball-tinis” on the table in front of him), he signs a deal with Rumpelstiltskin (casting off a vibe that’s half TV pitchman, half used-car salesman) to trade any day of his life for a single day as a hated ogre. Carelessly, he tells Rumpelstiltskin to take “any day you want” from his childhood. So (surprise, surprise), Rumpelstiltskin takes the day he was born, resulting in a completely different world caused by the best friend of any “Star Trek” script writer, a time-travel paradox.

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz return as the voices of Shrek, his best friend Donkey, and his wife Fiona respectively. However, this time, they are joined by Walt Dohrn, who plays the bad guy, Rumpelstiltskin, a shifty dealer in magical contracts. It was directed by Mike Mitchell (who not only voiced a few people in the movie, but also directed “Sky High”), and written by Josh Klausner (“Date Night,” “Shrek the Third”) and Darren Lemke (who wrote, directed and acted in “Lost”).

I came into this movie fully expecting a repeat of the third movie. And you know what? I didn’t get it. Maybe it’s just because I love time-travel, or alternate universe plotlines, but I really liked this movie. The plot wasn’t crap, the characters weren’t rushed in their development (which was actually there), and the ending was satisfactory. And the whole “changed timeline” thing wasn’t pushed too heavily, which was great. Because the last thing I wanted to see was watching them point out shocking differences again and again, and instead just getting on with the story (which I also expected to see…and didn’t! How ’bout that!).

This movie is not without its bad points, however. There were a couple of really ham-handed moments where Klausner and Lemke were shoe-horning in jokes that made me want to shoot myself in the face, but I think the rest of the movie almost made up for it (I couldn’t forget them, but I can ignore them easily enough). Also, there were a couple of parts that tried so hard to be funny and just fell flat.

One strange thing about this movie is that it doesn’t really seem to be geared towards one audience. It has a deep message that might be lost on kids, but it also has that goofy, animated atmosphere that might ruin that message for some adults. Sitting in the middle ground, I found it very enjoyable, as did the screening audience, comprised of families and critics.

“Shrek Forever After” is good for the whole family to watch together. You should really see in the theaters, as it would lose its charm on the small screen. And what spectacular charm it has.