Shrek Forever After

India

(Good)

The Shrek we meet at the start of "Shrek Forever After" is a shell of an ogre: mean and green on the outside, but all mellow yellow inside. Married life and fatherhood have made him soft, and no longer scary. Gone are the angry mobs who used to chase him with pitchforks, replaced by some obnoxious brat at his triplets' birthday party, who keeps dem ... Read more   The Shrek we meet at the start of "Shrek Forever After" is a shell of an ogre: mean and green on the outside, but all mellow yellow inside. Married life and fatherhood have made him soft, and no longer scary. Gone are the angry mobs who used to chase him with pitchforks, replaced by some obnoxious brat at his triplets' birthday party, who keeps demanding, "Do the roar!" as if Shrek were just another celebrity with a worn-out catchphrase.

Can this be the monster that we know and love, or is he merely going through the motions, catering to the clamoring crowds that want to see him do what he's always done, one more time?

The same thing might be asked of the movie, the fourth and supposedly final chapter in the animated series. Has "Shrek Forever After" still got it, or is it just a crass attempt to cash in on a now-tired franchise?

Believe it or not, there's life in the old boy yet. After a disappointing third outing, this "Shrek" brings the cycle of fairy-tale-themed films to a fine finish.

The premise itself will sound familiar. Not from earlier Shrek movies, but from the 1946 "It's a Wonderful Life." In an attempt to get back some of his mojo, if only for a day, Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) finds himself in the position of George Bailey, in a world in which he has never been born.

That's because he makes a magical deal with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn). Shrek gets 24 hours to live the life he used to have, before fame and family came along. In return, Rumpelstiltskin gets to take a day from Shrek's life.

Our hero should have read the fine print more carefully. Rumpelstiltskin picks the day Shrek was born, meaning that, while Shrek now finds himself in a world unencumbered by diapers and responsibility, it's also a world in which all the good he's done has had no effect. He wasn't there to rescue his wife, Fiona (Cameron Diaz), from her tower prison. Rumpelstiltskin is now king, and his kingdom is a police state, run by witches who hunt down ogres and toss them in jail. Fiona is the Amazonian leader of the ogre resistance movement.

Fortunately, there's an escape clause: If he and Fiona share one "true love's kiss," Shrek gets his old life back. All he has to do is make Fiona fall in love with him -- all over again. If he doesn't, he'll evaporate come sunrise.

That much is reminiscent of the first two movies, which also revolved around the power of a transformative kiss. But there's enough here that's clever and new -- and at times very funny -- to keep things from feeling stale.

Many beloved old characters return, only much transformed. Gingy the gingerbread man (Conrad Vernon) is now a scarred professional gladiator, fighting animal crackers in an arena for sport. Donkey (Eddie Murphy) is a mangy beast of burden, pulling the paddy wagon into which Shrek is thrown after he's captured. Most hilariously, Puss (Antonio Banderas) can no longer fit into his boots, having put on well more than a few pounds as Fiona's pampered pet.

Among the new characters, Rumpelstiltskin makes for a perfect villain. Vain, insecure and ridiculous in an assortment of constantly changing wigs, he's a pleasure to boo and hiss at.

The Pied Piper also makes an indelible debut, without ever uttering a word. Hired by Rumpelstiltskin to round up ogres, he carries a high-tech flute with him -- it has settings for rats, witches, ogres, etc. -- that makes dancers out of whatever and whomever he wants, to consistently amusing effect. If you liked the episode of "Glee" where the football team shakes it, improbably, to Beyonc's "Single Ladies," you'll love the sight of hulking, line-dancing ogres.

Have we heard some of this before? Sure. But as with the best fairy tales -- the ones that bear repeating again and again -- the delight in "Shrek Forever After" is not in the tale itself, but in the telling.

Contains slapsticky action and bathroom humor.

India

(Good)

Bottom Line: This fourth installment in the popular animated franchise demonstrates it may finally be time to let Shrek and Fiona live happily ever after.
You know that a film franchise is beginning to tire when its central character is in the throes of a midlife crisis. Such is the case with the lovable ogre in "Shrek Forever After," the fourth a ... Read more   Bottom Line: This fourth installment in the popular animated franchise demonstrates it may finally be time to let Shrek and Fiona live happily ever after.
You know that a film franchise is beginning to tire when its central character is in the throes of a midlife crisis. Such is the case with the lovable ogre in "Shrek Forever After," the fourth and promised final film in the animated series that has proven a moneymaking machine in its last three incarnations. Receiving its world premiere as the opening-night film at the Tribeca Film Festival, this installment should prove equally lucrative -- especially considering the extra coin that 3D and IMAX bring to the table -- but it also reveals a definite been-there, done-that feeling.

The film wastes no time in reintroducing its beloved characters, including the sassy Donkey (Eddie Murphy), the adorable Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), the suave Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) and, ever so briefly, Fiona's royal parents (John Cleese, Julie Andrews). Shrek (Mike Myers) is now a staid married ogre with three adorable ogre offspring who finds himself chafing at his rigid domesticity and his being embraced by the very villagers who once feared him.

In an effort to shake things up, he enters into an unfortunate pact with the devil or, more precisely, new villain Rumpelstiltskin (borrowed for the occasion from the Brothers Grimm and voiced by story editor Walt Dohrn). Suddenly, he finds himself in an alternate Far Far Away in which he was never born: Rumpel is king, Fiona is the fierce warrior leader of a band of rebel ogres, Donkey is in the employ of a band of cackling witches, and Puss, well, Puss has really let himself go -- he's now a pampered housecat with a serious eating disorder.

Desperate to reclaim his former life, Shrek attempts to woo back Fiona and extract a kiss from his "one true love" that will undo the effects of the spell.

Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke's screenplay creates some fun with the personality and visual changes the familiar characters have undergone, but as with so many sequels to sequels, "Shrek Forever After" has lost much of the simple charm, humor and heart that marked its predecessors. No doubt looking to exploit the sensory stimulation offered by 3D, the filmmakers have ramped up the action, most notably in a high-flying broom chase featuring Shrek and Donkey and the witches and an elaborate climactic battle sequence. (Tellingly, this is the first in the series to be presented in widescreen.)

The 3D effects are undeniably impressive, but like many other examples of this increasingly popular form, some of the visual quality is sacrificed with the inevitable image darkening. The fact that much of the story is set in a literally bleaker landscape doesn't help matters.

As per usual with the series, this edition includes numerous pop cultures references -- a nod to "The Wizard of Oz" got a big laugh -- and several musical montages set to classic pop songs, including the Carpenters' "Top of the World."

By this point, the estimable voice talents have their acts down cold, with each once again providing invaluable contributions (especially Banderas, whose hilarious Puss steals scenes with abandon). Newcomers include Dohrn, whose Rumpelstiltskin displays an amusingly hysterical edge; Jon Hamm, lending his stern baritone to his role as an ogre who makes Shrek look wimpy; and Jane Lynch and Craig Robinson as ogre rebels (the latter particularly funny as a chef whose specialty is chimichangas).