Depressing end to a creative series

Rating: 5/10 (3 July 2010)

It's unfortunate that the Shrek series ends here. Not because it should continue, but because this film could've benefited from another year in script development and actually done the saga justice. Attempting to deconstruct the daily reality of a life lived 'Happily Ever After', this final chapter goes into some really depressing territory that is anything but kids' stuff and where the laughs are scant at best.
Shrek, finding himself domesticated and beloved by people, grows weary of the day-to-day monotony and wishes for the salad days of a pre-Fiona life. Enter Rumpelstiltskin, voiced by GENUINE VOICE ACTOR Walt Dohrn who, as the Machiavellian imp, is perhaps the ONLY shining light in the film. Shrek makes a deal with him to have a day where he was once again feared and free of responsibility, and gives him a childhood day in exchange as payment. Rumple takes the day of his birth, sending Shrek into a skewed reality in which he was never born (ála 'It's a Wonderful Life') and where Fiona leads a band of ogres against the tyranny of Rumpelstiltskin's rule over Far Far Away.
The film's bleak tone is made worse by its dark colour palate (since most of it occurs that night), seedy atmosphere (e.g. a 'cock' fight between the Gingerbread Man and a pack of animal crackers), and skewed characters – beloved characters – that just aren't themselves. Without the laughter or the love, 'Shrek Forever After' leaves half the family out of the equation. My kids were utterly bored, and sad to say, I don't blame them.