Franchise Reviews - Shrek Forever After

Jeez, this was a depressing film. Shrek Forever After, also known as Shrek: The Final Chapter, was released in 2010 and intended to serve as a finale to the series. That's good, because sequelitis was beginning to set in after the previous film.

The film opens with a flashback in which King Harold and Queen Lillian seek the aid of Rumpelstiltskin, voiced by Walt Dohrn, to break the curse on Princess Fiona. Rumpelstiltskin agrees if they hand over rule of Far Far Away to him, but they learn that Fiona has been rescued before signing the contract. Meanwhile, Shrek has returned to the swamp with Fiona and their ogre triplets. But family life is bringing on a midlife crisis, along with the fact that people no longer fear him but idolise him like a celebrity. After lashing out at everybody during his triplets' birthday party, Shrek encounters Rumpelstiltskin, who offers him a day to be like a real ogre in exchange for one day which Shrek won't remember. Shrek accepts and enjoys terrorising people, but then discovers that the day he paid with was the day he was born. Since he never existed, Fiona was never saved from Dragon's castle, her parents signed Rumpelstiltskin's contract and disappeared, who in turn assumed control of Far Far Away and made it into a dystopia ruled by witches. Shrek learns that he has to fall in love with Fiona again before sunrise, or he will cease to exist.

This film takes a more dramatic tone which seems like a far cry from its predecessors. It paints a bleak scenario in which everybody Shrek knows has been altered: Donkey is in Rumpelstiltskin's service; Fiona leads an ogre resistance movement; Puss in Boots has retired and let himself go, acting as Fiona's pet. And to make matters worse, Fiona doesn't believe in true love, having escaped from the castle herself. To the film's credit, Fiona's pretty cool in this one. She always was an aversion to the traditional fairy tale princesses, but this film takes it to the next level.

To be honest, I miss the humour of the first two films. It's still there, but not as much. I think Shrek seems too mean-spirited at first. Yeah, he's meant to be a bit of a dick, but his insecurities are meant to garner sympathy. When he lashes out at everybody at the beginning and tells Fiona he wishes he never met her, I feel like that's pushing things too far.

There's still some great action, and Rumpelstiltskin gets a chuckle out of me every now and then, but I don't think it's enough to carry the film.

Yeah, I think this one is a hard pass.