Do the roar!

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2010)

After the dismal effort that was Shrek the Third, I had no real expectations from this fourth outing for Dreamwork's lucrative green ogre and his fairytale pals; all I was looking for was an hour-and-a-half's mindless distraction from a very boring cross-channel ferry journey.
What a pleasant surprise it was, then, to discover that this latest Shrek adventure is not only much, much better than the previous chapter, but is actually as enjoyable as the first two, with a cool 'alternate reality' storyline, a memorable villain in the form of the marvellously malevolent Rumplestiltskin (Walt Dohrn), some terrific new characters and plenty of familiar ones, loads of genuinely laugh-out-loud moments (Donkey's party trick with a pair of eyeballs still has me chuckling a week later), and a well-worn but still heart-warming message: that we should spend more time appreciating the good things we have in life, rather than yearning for the things we don't have.
On the more technical side, the CGI is excellent and really makes me wish that I had seen the film in glorious 3D to fully appreciate the impressive visuals; furthermore, the voice-work is perfect as one would expect from the talented cast, and the choice of music is inspired (check out the witches busting some moves to The Beastie Boys).
With Shrek the Third, it had looked as though the fairy-tale was finally over, but if Dreamworks can guarantee to keep the quality this high, I have no problems with them spinning out the franchise for a few more adventures.