Not the best Shrek film but a fine closure for the series

Rating: 7/10 (14 October 2010)

Since 2001, Shrek has touched our hearts with humor and charm and has become a major icon in the animation industry. The first two Shrek films were great fun delivering amusing fairy tale satire and memorable characters. Shrek the Third however, never got my attention and I herd it was pretty bad so I decided to skip it.
Now we have Shrek Forever After (aka, The Final Chapter), the four and final film in the series. I didn't get interested in this one either. But when I saw that this movie was playing on a Qantas flight I was on to Sydney, I decided to give it a chance.
The plot in the final installment is fairly interesting. Shrek has grown tired of being a father and a celebrity and wishes to live the days of an ogre again. He is later scammed into a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to become "ogre for a day" and finds himself in twisted version of Far Far Away where Rumpelstiltskin is King and Shrek is known to nobody (not even Fiona who is now an hunting ogre). Shrek must stop Rumpelstiltskin's evil deed before it's too late. It's a decent presentation.
DreamWorks gives out plenty of action in this entry (which the second one lacked) and this does bring the memories of the first film. Speaking of previous films, Forever After has a good number of connections with past events in the series. There aren't as many laughs as there were in the previous films, but it does deliver it's funny bits quite well such as break dancing witches.
Visuals are a big treat in this installment as they have improved a lot over the years. They're fantastic. All the main cast are back and they deliver a reasonable performance for their characters. Walt Dohrn however, does a great job providing the voice for the antagonist Rumpelstiltskin showing a great expression of wit and evilness.
Overall, it's a fun entry for the series. But is The Final Chapter the best of the four Shrek films? Not exactly, but it doesn't have to be. Shrek 4 may not have the magic from the first two films but what it does do is improve over it's poor predecessor and end the once doomed series with charm and dignity. "B"