Like most people over the age of thirteen, I hated 'Shrek the Third.' At that point, I was so disappointed that I almost lost all the respect that I ever had for the 'Shrek' franchise. It was one of the first of many movies from the sequel-pumping machine that is Dreamworks to sell out to the brainless sequel craze. There are a lot more to come from various franchises, so keep a look out.
When I first heard about a fourth 'Shrek' being made, my only thought at the time was to just ignore this child's attraction, but then from early reviews I heard that this installment would be the last of the 'Shrek' franchise, and was mostly making up for the disappointing closure that had initially been 'Shrek the Third.' In that case I actually wanted to see it, just to see if it did make up for that mess, and surprisingly, it did just that.
The story is more coherent this time around, bringing in Rumpelstiltskin, a villain that's heavily, and refreshingly reminiscent of Lord Farquaad from the first 'Shrek'. The humor is once again the same as it was before, with the toilet gestures that gained such a big audience for the franchise in the first place.
However, as easy to follow as the story is, it still isn't as awesome as the previous ones, although I'm not going to bash it that much, because it does succeed in re-gaining whatever love you may have had for this franchise before the third movie tore it to shreds. The ending feels a little rushed and too cliche for Shrek, the jokes are sometimes a little crappy, and the soundtrack is a little cheesy, but it's tolerable. There are some funny moments that will keep you laughing for days. At least they did for me.
So did 'Shrek Forever After' make up for 'Shrek the Third'? Yes, but it didn't live up to the first two films, although it was close enough. Was it the closure the Shrek franchise deserved though? Not by a long shot, but it's good enough to watch at least once, if you care enough.
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