Mid-Life Shrek-sis

As much as I love the Shrek series, Shrek the Third was a bit of a downer. It was funny in parts and had an interesting plot but it just felt off. And it was sad to see the groundbreaking animated series end with a whimper instead of a BANG. So when they announced a 4th edition, I was excited to see if it could live up to the hilarity of Shrek and Shrek 2. Bad news: Shrek Forever After is nothing like the first two. Good news: IT WORKS!

The fourth time we see Shrek, he's a semi-unhappy ogre. He has three crying babies, a demanding wife, friends who are at his house all the time, an unwanted celebrity status in Far Far Away and a desire to be a "real ogre" again (meaning mean and scary and hated throughout the kingdom). He finally loses it at his kids' birthday party and meets Rumplestilskin, a dwarf creature who is infamous for his seductive but ultimately one-sided contracts. Shrek stupidly makes a deal with him that sends Shrek into an alternate universe in which Shrek never saved Fiona from the tower and the Rumpster now rules Far Far Away. Shrek must now find Fiona and kiss her in order to make the world right again.

Putting Shrek through an It's a Wonderful Life-style reevaluation of his life was a super-smart move. This is because it completely validates the events that take place in the wonderful first film. We get to see Fiona and Shrek fall in love all over again, we get to see a new version of Shrek's friendship with Donkey and we get a villain similar to Lord Farquaad--short, vain, flamboyant and mercilessly funny. Essentially Shrek Forever After reminds us exactly why we're hopelessly in love with these characters and their world.

The best thing about this movie is our lovely ogress heroine. When we first see Fiona in the alternate universe, she is a blood red-haired Viking sex goddess, the Princess Leia of the Ogre Rebellion against Rumplestilskin and his tyranny over Far Far Away. She's still the same Fiona we've loved and cheered for the last nine years. In the 1st film, she is a beautiful princess who is embarrassed by her nightly transformation into an ugly ogre. In this film, she is ashamed of her daytime persona, afraid it undermines her authority. Both Fionas are too insecure to be themselves for fear of being judged--this film just offers a different spin on her character. Shrek (and we with him) falls in love with Fiona for all the same reasons but in a different way. And it is really cute to see Shrek make a fool of himself in front of Fiona in the scene where he tries to tell her who he really is. His monologue ends with the future classic line "And then my donkey fell down your waffle-hole." It's just too funny.

The film offers a darker and grittier version of Shrek's world, which is interesting. The story is more dramatic than the three previous films which I think was a risky but ultimately successful move. Of course, the movie is really funny especially when the obese Puss-in-Boots, Donkey and Rumplestilskin are involved. The film's supporting characters (Rumpy's witch police squad, the ogre soldiers, and all the returning characters like Pinocchio, Gingy, etc) are very funny. Shrek Forever After makes some good use of two old-school songs: The Carpenters' "Top of the World" and Enya's "Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)" which is a nice callback to the first two films' amazing musical selections.

Shrek Forever After is an extremely solid end to the story of Shrek, Fiona and their wacky group of friends. It's funny, has a good story and completely reinforces everything that the Shrek films means to us. It's an entertaining flick that I would highly recommend to all fans of this crazy-awesome ogre. Shrek Forever After: B+