After Thoughts

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the first Shrek film, but the second and third installments were progressively less well-made, to the point where I never bothered to go see the fourth film, Shrek Forever After. And then I wound up watching it -- appropriately enough, with a couple of kids for best effect. And while the movie still falls well short of the fun original, it's not too bad either.

Shrek Forever After uses a new character, Rumpelstiltskin, to cast Shrek in the story of It's a Wonderful Life, putting him in a world where he never was born. It's a convenient way of reverting some of the characters to earlier incarnations, but it's better still for imagining "alternate universe" versions of many of them. Particularly fun are Princess Fiona, who becomes a strong warrior leader, and Puss in Boots, who becomes a Garfield level of fat.

Most of the jokes in the film are dumbed down for a younger audience, but there are a handful aimed a bit higher, as well as some surprisingly amusing running gags. ("Do the roar.") The plot perhaps moves a bit too briskly, not getting maximum value out of the reimagined versions of familiar characters; but then again, it may be the movie's tight 90-minute run time that keeps it from wearing out its welcome.

By this point, the franchise's recurring actors have settled maybe a bit too much into their roles, but that doesn't mean the voice acting is lackluster. Walt Dohrn is a solid Rumpelstiltskin, pitching his voice somewhere in the vicinity of Jack Black with a hint of Wallace Shawn. And a fun array of people lend their voices to new ogre characters, including Jon Hamm, Jane Lynch, and Craig Robinson.

Ultimately, I'd say it's alright for a one time viewing, but likely to wear out its welcome quickly if you have a child who became obsessed with it and wanted to watch it over and over. I'd give it a B-.