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Shrek Forever After:The Final Chapter – movie review by Kate

May 21st, 2010 | 2 Comments

Shrek Forever After – movie reviews by Kate

Reel reviews for real people

Rating: PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language.

Genre: Comedy/Kids

Starring: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Jane Lynch, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas

Director: Mike Mitchell

Plot: After the success of the first three films in the Shrek series, a fourth entry appears with more adventures of Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss in Boots. But in addition to all the laughs the first three films have brought, SHREK FOREVER AFTER features a whole new element in the series: 3-D animation.

Running Time: 1:31

Kate says – 3 stars “Shrek Forever After” a.k.a. “It’s a Wonderful Life” green ogre style. I know some critics are being pretty harsh in their reviews of the final installment in the Shrek series, but truthfully, I found it to be funny, fast paced, sweet at moments, and surprisingly entertaining throughout. It’s the perfect kid length (91 minutes) and has a “sometimes-this-being-a-parent-thing-is-not-all-it’s-cracked-up-to-be” theme that parents can relate to. “Not that I speak from personal experience,” said the movie reviewer with seven kids …heehee. All in all, it’s a great way to spend a few hours with the kiddies at the movies.”

Rene Rodriguez (Miami Herald) says – 3 stars “Considerably toned down are the endless pop-culture references and in-jokes to other movies. There are no Ricky Martin musical numbers this time; there is no re-creation of the bullet-time camera work from The Matrix. For this last chapter, the filmmakers play things relatively straight, resulting in the best Shrek movie to date (or at least the first one I’ve enjoyed)…The story is constructed in a way that requires no previous knowledge of the series, and the movie manages to find fresh humor and sight gags in its storybook universe… The movie is big-hearted and peppered with juicy throwaway bits.” (read full review)

Christy Lemire (AP Movie Critic) says – 1 1/2 stars “This fourth and allegedly final installment in the series is lifeless, joyless and woefully devoid of the upbeat energy that distinguished the earlier movies — well, at least the first two. If “Shrek the Third” from 2007 felt tired, “Shrek Forever After” is practically narcoleptic. Brief bursts of manic energy give way to long, heavy stretches that drag. Most of the hackneyed pop culture references of its predecessors are gone, mercifully, but so is the fun. This time, the big, bad ogre is having a mid-life crisis — not exactly a hoot for the kids in the audience, and their parents can suffer through that at home for free.” (read full review)

Elizabeth Weitzman (NY Daily News) says 4 out of 5 stars “What does a middle-aged monster do when he loses his mojo? He returns to his roots, of course. Happily, it’s a move that revives our aging ogre, and renews his flagging franchise. DreamWorks and Shrek had lost their way by 2007′s “Shrek the Third,” which was bloated with cheap gags and lazy pop-culture references. But in Mike Mitchell’s charming 3D entry, “Shrek Forever After,” the references are cleverly used to shape the story, which borrows from classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Wizard of Oz.” (read full review)

Roger Moore (Orlando Sentinel) says 2 stars “Dreamworks seems bored with the ogre who laid the golden egg. Shrek Forever After, the fourth film in the lucrative franchise, barely tampers with the Shrek formula (one-liners, flatulence jokes, pop tunes) and not enough to breathe life into the exhausted series. Though the It’s a Wonderful Life plot gives the whole arc of the Shrek-Fiona story a heartfelt twist, Forever After still goes down like warmed-over porridge. You don’t have to be Goldilocks to think that this time they’ve cooked their Golden Goose.” (read full review)