Shrek Forever After Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Mike Myers as Shrek
Eddie Murphy as Donkey
Cameron Diaz as Fiona
Walt Dohrn as Rumplestilskin

Plot: As Shrek struggles with the daily routines of life, he wishes he could back to the good old days. Though, once his wish is granted, he has to fight to get back the life he took for granted.

Review: The Shrek name has become more of just a memorable, lovable character. He's an empire! With games, clothing, toys and many more Shrek items, what could possibly stop him from becoming one of the best animated characters of all time? A not so great 3rd movie in the series. Did Shrek Forever After redeem the name of Shrek?

For the most part, yes. Shrek the Third wasn't completely horrible but it was bad. It had completely gotten away from the standards that the Shrek name holds itself to. Shrek and Shrek 2 were very classic animated, family movies. So maybe following up with a 3rd part was a daunting task. Nonetheless, it couldn't have been that hard. It still did well in the box office but money doesn't always result in a good movie.

One of my early complaints that noticed within the first half hour of the movie was, was there any need for 3D? Yes, it's the huge "new" technology that most movies seem to come out in now. In this case, I didn't see too many cases, if any at all, where 3D was honestly needed. What makes it worse is that Shrek was released in IMAX theaters. Really? Maybe one or two scenes could have looked nice in IMAX but the whole movie? This whole process just becomes unnecessary and money wasting.

In Shrek Forever After, you see the movie head back in the right direction, much more towards the first two Shrek installments. Small witty comments, funny appearances from the three little pigs, pinocchio and now my favorite character of all time, Butterpants. Butterpants may have honestly stolen the show in the beginning...maybe the whole movie!

I'll be honest, it's hard to review a movie like Shrek Forever After. It's the 4th film in the series where the main protagonist characters are back. The actors all reprise their roles in the movie so you know the acting or voice acting is going to be good. I still have a soft spot in my heart for both Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, even if they are both fading out of films more and more by the month.

Overall, Shrek Forever After is worth watching. It has the comedy, some action, some emotion, and it goes back to it's roots from the beginning of the series. Is it worth an IMAX admission? No. Is it worth a 3D admission? No. If you can, it's better to just watch in regular resolution.

Rating: 3 out of 5