Everybody! It's a Celebration!

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2012)

Shrek Forever After is a testament to the mega success of the Shrek series – it will not be appreciated by those expecting something radically different from the previous installments or those who are new to the ogre. It brings everything that we have come to adore, love, hate, laugh, cry and celebrate watching tales of Far Far Away. It can be categorized as a 'Best of Shrek Series', along with a few new exciting additions thrown in the mix. Watching Shrek 4, we big a final goodbye to the green, uncouth, bawdy, grumpy ogre who also is compassionate, protective, noble, kind-hearted, funny, diligent and very gullible.
Shrek Forever After does not have an innovative storyline – Shrek signs a deal with the malevolent, shrewd Rumpelstiltskin that makes him live the life of a true, nasty ogre for a day, except that the deal has its own causes. Rumpelstiltskin is a known for deliberately distorting meaning and therefore Shrek has to fight all over again for what he had already conquered in an alternate universe. In this world, Fiona is a Che Gueveva like revolutionist who leads an army of ogres to fight off the despotic ruler Rumpelstiltskin and his lair of witches. It is a good versus evil situation between the ogres and Rumpelstiltskin, and Shrek has to break the spell in all this chaos before it is too late.
Shrek 4 is not without predictabilities; the entire 'being dad is boring', 'got to save my love', 'sacrificing for my beloved' is done to death before in movies. What makes Shrek Forever After stand out is its commitment to make Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss and all these fairy tale characters a part of our culture. Who would really care for Pinocchio or the Gingerbread man or the three little pigs had they not been revamped in the series? Shrek Forever After brings them all together, tells us to brace ourselves for our final journey and gives us the goodies.
The voice acting is like the previous installments, except that there are a additional ones for Rumpelstiltskin, the witches, the extra ogres. The writing is a marked improvement from Shrek 3 because it does not become to self-referential. The gags come at various points, such as when donkey asks Shrek how he knows his name (which is donkey!), or when the Shrek impostors are brought in front of Rumpelstiltskin for rewards. In Shrek 3, it was more about getting surprised at how naughty Rapunzel or Cinderella was. It is good they were not brought back.
Shrek 4 is a reminder of Shrek's relevance in pop culture and I raise my glass to it.
My Rating: 8.8 out of 10