Shrek Forever After Movie Review: Happily Ogre After?

For its long-time followers, Shrek Forever After is passable entertainment. It's for those who have grown with the franchise's predecessors and not the type that can add any new toddler fans. In any case, the franchise still has good DVD and Blu-ray markets. It is undoubtedly a solid film franchise that wraps up the Shrek DVD and Blu-ray collections; and it has a potentially good spot for top home video sales charts.

For this final animation flick of the successful franchise, the Shrek music magic doesn't work like it used to. The musical numbers can't forcefully bring folks to dance around or even sing along like it used to (ironically not living up to the power of this last Shrek's bounty hunter piper). Its expected use of pop standards is mostly a bore. The rehashed cash cow elements are tiring. And what keeps the movie hanging is its already built-up appeal and following for the characters that people have embraced for almost a decade now. That's how bankable it is, and on that level, it works. But even the fans would mostly agree, it's not as good as the first two.

Shrek Forever After begins so mediocre. It takes the film a deadly long time to kick in for the laughs, not a good path to take for any commercial movie. Again, what keeps the audience seated in anticipation for something better is its Shrek brand that has drawn people before, with the hopes of offering something good, like it used to.

As the story progresses, the ogre heart of the green fellow and the rest of the popular fairytale guys keep some spark through a few moments of good comedy using the old Shrek formula. While its novelty may have worn off, it knows how to make good use of its tickle points which still manage to lift up some needed charm. Its social commentary aspect about midlife crisis, obesity and the routinely frustrations of daily life has well-established mainstream presentations. As an animated portrait of adult and family life, it seems more geared towards the older folks than the kids. This is where it recovers. Its good heart for the social issues comes around convincingly enough. And the movie's execution is pretty much straightforward on it. Through it, somehow, the big green guy and the whole gang manage to make the movie something to watch with a popcorn.

The voice performances and technical details mainly carry out this fourth installment. These elements tend to keep the Shrek charm alive. It is actually a little better than Shrek the Third, at the least.

There seems so much compensation on its storytelling for the sake of 3D show-offs. From the flying to the falling scenes, more often than not, the scenes tend to exude some forced nature on them.

While it tries a little too hard, this final chapter is still mildly entertaining, especially when infusing the pleasant nostalgia of the movie experience of Shrek's good old past.