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3D Shrek Forever After
Shrek 4
The
finality of the title should be pretty emphatic. After three previous
films in the series, this is the last. It’s odd then that it opens with
Shrek (Mike Myers) more or less middle-aged. The repetitive routine of
his life is flashed before us in an accelerating montage which is a
knowing nod to our own humdrum lives.
Imagine if just for a day, the world still feared ogres. If instead of
being obliged to “to do the roar” as a banal party trick by a kid, his
voice carried across the towns and fields, inciting panic and
pitchforks! It would be great, Shrek imagines, to get away from the kids
and wife and friends he loves just for a day.
A
Faustian pact with devil-in-the-detail implications is soon arranged by
the dastardly, diminutive Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn is oh-so-evil!)
and Shrek has his day of unburdened ogring. However, the sunshine is
soon replaced by a bizarro-world where witches rule the skies and Rumple
is king! His palace is a soulless Versailles caricature where gothic
witches party night-long and townspeople suffer.
It’s
a world which Shrek does not like and which he must undo. Without Fiona
(Cameron Diaz), his kids, or mates Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in
Boots (Antonio Banderas), what good is being a ferocious ogre,
especially when these are being aerially hunted and caged? There’s also
an underground ogre-rebellion brewing!
This
is all very exciting and as a kid, I’d be very enthralled. There were
two children at the screening I attended and while both kept commenting,
only one was asking about going home. The 3D-ness brings it all that
much closer but some of the witches are pretty gruesome, as are the
chase scenes in the upper vaults of the palace. I have read that the
final Shrek instalment is also the only one in the wide aspect ratio of
1:2.35 which fills your eyes that much more.
After a dip in audience satisfaction for Shrek the Third, the
series swings back for a pretty good close. While none of the sequels
can match the energy and newness of the first film, it was a fun ride.
The funky soundtrack in Forever After keeps it moving, as do the
numerous adult-aimed funnies and references (including a Dante quote!).
This is definitely one for the fans and though it would
work standing alone, not having seen even one of the other movies would
work against your enjoyment. I look forward to the spin-off, Puss in
Boots! |
