Friday, May 28, 2010
By Alicia Citrin
Circulation Editor
The ogres are back on screen in the new animated movie “Shrek Forever After.” The latest installment of the “Shrek” franchise has an interesting story, comical dialogue, funny interactions between characters and good voice acting.
The fourth and final movie in the series, “Forever After,” picks up about a year after the events of the last film, “Shrek the Third.” Shrek (Mike Myers), unsatisfied with his celebrity lifestyle, feels like he no longer is a “real ogre.”
He then makes a deal with trickster Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), whose plan to become King was thwarted when Shrek rescued Fiona. Shrek gets one day to scare villagers if he gives one day of his childhood to Rumpelstiltskin.
However, the trickster uses it to prevent Shrek’s birth and become king, completely changing the world introduced in the first three Shrek movies. “Rumple” is king of Far Far Away; Donkey (Eddie Murphy) is pulling carts and has never met Shrek; Fiona (Cameron Diaz) leads a rebel ogre group trying to take down Rumple; an obese Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has retired.
Shrek has one day to regain his existence and return his world to normal by getting his true love’s kiss.
The alternate universe of the film gave its writers a chance to explore other aspects of the characters by removing Shrek’s influence on them. Fans are used to the way characters appeared and acted, so their alternate selves created fresh jokes and situations. For example, when Shrek and Donkey are going through the woods looking for Fiona, Donkey finds a stack of waffles and says, “I always thought that the Waffle Fairy was just a bedtime story.”
The difference in behavior of the supporting characters also makes lots of laughs. For instance, Shrek tries to convince Donkey that they are best friends. Donkey looks at Shrek sincerely for a minute like he believes what Shrek is saying, but then bolts off. Followers of the series know Puss as an energetic and feisty cat, but in “Forever After,” he is too lazy to even catch mice.
The humor is sustained by good voice acting. Murphy’s Donkey probably gets the most laughs, with outrageous comments and perfect timing. Myers and Diaz even manage to be emotionally compelling throughout the movie as Shrek and Fiona.
Although the movie does not live up to its great-grandfather, the original Shrek movie from 2001, it satisfactorially concludes the franchise. It references some of the plot points from the earlier movies, like Fiona’s curse, the political structure of Far Far Away, and Shrek’s triples, but doesn’t repeat the now-stale humor of the first films.
“Shrek Forever After” is a good movie with funny dialogue and situations, good voice acting and an interesting story. It is rated PG for mild action, some rude humor and language, and is playing in theaters everywhere.
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