20/20 Filmsight - Film Criticism by David O'Connell

It says a lot about the renaissance of third dimension cinema and geeky glasses that for the last two weeks I’ve been tempting all sorts of potential 1s with an invitation to Shrek 3D. The latest instalment in the long-running Dreamworks franchise is in fact called Shrek Forever After, but why bother with all those extra syllables? It’s Shrek. In 3D.

In any case, nobody took the juicy bit of bait I was waving about (funnily enough) and I loitered along to special preview of the film on my lonesome. It ended up being me and about 300 kids, all of whom were surprisingly well behaved. And in a testament to the film’s effect on this youngest generation, a neigbouring tiny tot at one point felt the tension so acutely she managed to absentmindedly squeeze the top off her soda cup, the plastic disc hitting me square in the face.

For adults it’s unfortunately a case of further diminishing returns. Indeed, in the Hollywood pantheon of cheap sequels it doesn’t come much more pointless than Shrek Forever After. Everything that’s done here has been done before in the series, only much better.

Mike Myers once again returns to play Shrek, who at the start of the film is in a bit of a rut. Villagers used to run away from the giant green ogre, but now he’s the object of their commercialised fascination. And when he isn’t looking after his gaggle of newborns or having old friends Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) over for the same dinner and same stories every night, Shrek pines for a simpler time when ogres roared and people ran.

Unfortunately for Shrek there’s a mischievous magic maker looking to cash in on his depressed funk. Still steaming over Shrek unknowingly thwarting his attempt to steal the kingdom of Far Far Away, Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) offers him a deal: he’ll give the big guy a day from his pre domesticated past in exchange for another of the charlatan’s choice. Unfortunately, Shrek fails to read the fine print, and the day he gives up is the day he was born, meaning that after his 24 hours of freedom he’ll cease to exist.

Thus stuck in a parallel universe where he has never existed, Shrek must befriend Donkey and Puss all over again, as well as re-win the affections of Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and help overthrow the nefarious Rumpelstiltskin, who has made himself king, all before his day of so-called freedom is up.

Get all that? Good. Because I struggled to take it in during the actual screening. And while Shrek Forever After’s convoluted plotting doesn’t help the film, hurting it more is a cookie cutter theme and by-the-numbers execution. Not knowing what you have until it’s gone is a premise worthy of Richard Marx, done to death even for the kids, and while the original Shrek illustrated a marked spunkiness, the attitude has matured like an ageing punk rocker, to the point now where it’s drifting dangerously close to getting obnoxious.

The voice acting is fine if sometimes phoned in, Walt Dohrn being a minor boon for the filmmakers with his succulent delivery, while the 3D visual effects are eye-popping enough. The pop-culture references have thankfully been dialled down so as not to distract too much from the story, which is a little more character-driven than Shrek the Third but still ultimately a rehash of everything that’s come before.

Shrek Forever After certainly isn’t awful filmmaking, just the average continuation of a series that has slowly become an also ran behind Pixar’s finest. For children fresh to the kingdom of Far Far Away there’s sure to be some enjoyment, but adults are advised to bring a magazine and a reading light.


I say: A staid entry in a series of diminishing returns. This should be the last Shrek film, but then again I wouldn’t bet on it. I shudder at the thought of how this will shape up against Toy Story 3.

See it for: Other than keeping your kids’ happy, perhaps see this for Walt Dohrn as Rumpelstiltskin.