It's a Shrek Life
Having lead such an exciting life Shrek finds himself having a bit of a mid-life crisis as his domesticated life with Fiona and the kids where he is a celebrity is a far cry from his days of being a scary ogre. The wicked Rumpelstiltskin picks up on Shrek's current depression and offers him a chance to spend a whole day as if none of it had ever happened and he was once again a scary bachelor ogre. It sounds perfect and Shrek signs the contract with out bothering to read the small print and finds himself in an alterative universe where none of the past few years have happened. Except he realises his mistake when he learns that Rumpelstiltskin has taken control of Far Far Away and somehow he needs to reverse things so that he can get his life back before the day is out.
I was surprised when "Shrek Forever After" came out as after a good first and second movie the third Shrek movie was not up to the high standards and it seemed like it would have been a good time to stop squeezing money out of the popular character before good will turned to boredom amongst audiences. But I was even more surprised by how good "Shrek Forever After" was after watching it as they sorted out the over crowding of characters which caused the previous movie an issue and delivered a familiar but entertaining storyline.
Now as I said the storyline to "Shrek Forever After" is familiar because it delivers a variation on the "What if?" theme with Shrek getting a chance to see an alternative version of his life if the last few years hadn't happened. Adults will recognize the theme but the way it adapts it with the evil Rumpelstiltskin nefariously tricking Shrek out of his life to what happens to Donkey and Fiona is simply enjoyable. The whole idea of Fiona being an Ogre warrior Queen leading a rebellion is entertaining and there is much more of this sort of cleverness going on.
What also helps "Shrek Forever After" to impress is that whilst the animation has always been good in these movies it seems even better in this fourth Shrek movie. There is such attention to detail this time around and the whole thing seems smoother than in all of the previous movies. Combined with all the elements we have come to expect from the series, be it the humour of the Ginger bread man to the clever use of familiar songs "Shrek Forever After" is simply a return to good times.
What this all boils down to is that "Shrek Forever After" is a pleasant surprise and after the disappointment of the third movie this is up there with the first and second movies. Not only that but it is again as entertaining for grown ups as it is for children, some might say with its mid-life crisis storyline it is even more enjoyable for grown ups.
