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To semi-quote one of my favorite flicks “Ogre life consists of routine… and then more routine.” And that’s exactly what’s been visited upon our favorite green ugly giant. Now don’t go thinking I mean the MOVIE (or the story) is routine — far, far away from it! On the contrary, this ranks up there with the very best the Shrek franchise has to offer. And why does it work so well? Because the same clever twist behind it also what served the latest Star Trek (2009) movie so well, it’s made this final season of ABC’s “Lost” one of the best ever, and it’s working extremely well as a significant part of the back-story for Fox’s “Fringe”. I’m talkin’ about “alternate realities” (and/or universes). In Shrek Forever After, it’s employed as sort of a “This Is Your Life” phenomenon, asking the question “What would have happened if Shrek (voiced, as always, by Mike Myers, The Love Guru) didn’t rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz, The Box) from that dragon-guarded castle?” Heck, it’s more like “What would have happened to the land of Far, Far Away if Shrek never even existed?”
Getting back to my “routine” comment, Shrek has gotten fairly sick and tired of his married-with-children world (in a very funny Groundhog Day-ish kind of way). If you remember nothing else from the forgettable Shrek the Third (2007) — whch is probably why they decided on a fourth film; they couldn’t go out like THAT! — Shrek and Fiona now have three cute ogre babies (or at least as cute as ogre babies can be). And anybody who has children (I thankfully do not) knows what that pretty much entails. The straw finally breaks the camel’s back at a party when now-celebrity Shrek loses his roar after being prodded by a human kid (“Do the roar! Do the roar!”) and his annoying father (voiced by the even more annoying “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest… aaaah, that makes sense!). Embarrassed by what he’s just done, Shrek makes a hasty exit, hooks up with a mysterious peddler named Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn, who had several small parts in Shrek 3), signs a contract to recapture that lost joy of what being a REAL ogre’s all about (and just for one day, so no harm, right?) in exchange for one day — ANY day — of Shrek’s life. Well, unfortunately for our hero, Rumpel is a very bad little man — complete with a stormy red “angry wig” — and holds Shrek liable for all his past troubles. Why? Because Shrek was never supposed to rescue the princess to begin with (as we find out in the very first scene). So in granting Shrek’s contractual wish, Rumpel takes the most important day of Shrek’s existence — which day could that be? Voila! Shrek is just another ogre — terrorizing the countryside like the days of old — but at a terrible price. Upon his return to his tree-stump house in the swamp, Shrek realizes things are no longer what they used to be. Fiona’s gone, there’s no sign of the kids, Donkey (Eddie Murphy, Imagine That) is nowhere to be found, and everyone else Shrek knows and loves has vanished into thin air. In its place is something not unlike what happened to Marty McFly’s hometown of Hill Valley after Biff steals his sports almanac in Back to the Future Part II — Far, Far Away is just another brown, neglected dump ruled by… you guessed it… Rumpelstiltskin! He’s also surrounded himself with every broom-ridin’ witch from here to Oxnard and has turned the royal palace into a giant dance hall / hook-up bar. Worse yet, Donkey is living up to his true potential as a wagon-pulling beast of burden; he’s still singing every chance he gets, but changes his tune to the… er… tune of two whip-wielding crones (Sirius satellite radio’s got nothin’ on this ass!).
Eventually, many of Shrek’s former friends reappear, but most — aside from Donkey — aren’t exactly what they used to be. And if the initial appearance of the “new” Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas, The Other Man) doesn’t have you rolling in the aisles, you probably don’t find much funny anyway and really shouldn’t be wasting your time with this movie in the first place. Of course, with a new world comes new characters, including an underground ogre resistance group lead by Brogan (Jon Hamm from AMC’s “Mad Men”), a chimichanga-making chef Cookie (Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine) — who looks a little like contestant Big Mike Lynch from this season’s “American Idol” — and a Braveheart-esque, axe-wielding Fiona aimed at taking down Rumpel. And I’ll leave the story –written by Josh Klausner (Date Night) and Darren Lemke (who wrote for ABC’s short-lived 2002 series “Flashpoint”), and one that shines brilliantly throughout — at that.
Impeccably rendered (yet again) — and this time in three dimensions (which does complement the action quite well) — and perfectly voiced by the whole cast, director Mike Mitchell (Sky High) has crafted an absolute beaut of a finale! But the real credit must go the the aforementioned pair of writers; both took a look at the landscape of contemporary adventure entertainment, and… they just knew what to do. This is a sensational way for this series — one that did lose it’s way, but only slightly — to go out, and I loved each and every cheek-chuckling, side-aching, laugh-til-it-hurt moment!
From early childhood, Steve has been a fan of films. He decorated his room with homemade movie posters (which ultimately evolved into another hobby... movie-poster collecting), ticket stubs, and other cinema paraphernalia. His goal was always "Opening Day / Front of the Line!" And if the film was good, there was no limit to the number of repeat viewings, committing much of the dialogue to memory in the process.
Always up for a good action or sci-fi flick, Steve is just as "at home" with a solid romance, comedy, documentary, or indie. It seemed only natural that he became a critic, having written reviews for his company, Ericsson, since 1998.
Steve resides in the Dallas area and is proud to be a native Texan. 
