Simon Dillon reviews the film

Shrek Forever After

The fourth (and probably final) instalment in the Shrek franchise provides an interesting twist on the first three. It's not as good as the first, but it is an entertaining and satisfying ride nonetheless.

Fed up that people are no longer scared of him, Shrek feels emasculated and worn down, despite the fact that he is universally loved by his wife Princess Fiona and his children and friends. Nasty old Rumplestiltskin takes advantage of this situation by offering Shrek a deal where he can be a properly feared ogre once again in exchange for a day from his childhood. But of course Shrek fails to read the small print and discovers that the day taken was the day he was born. He has never existed and thus, the entire Shrek universe skews into an alternate reality where Princess Fiona never fell in love with him and many other horrible things have occurred instead, such as Rumplestiltskin and a load of witches ruling the kingdom.

To set things right, Shrek has to make Princess Fiona fall in love with him all over again. But it won't be easy, as she's become a kind of resistance fighter and isn't interested in Shrek's advances. All Shrek's friends - including Donkey and Puss in Boots - don't remember him, and to make matters worse he only has a day to sort the mess out or things will never go back to the way they were.

The It's a Wonderful Life type parallel universe thing works surprisingly well, as do the related moral lessons. You-don't-know-what-you've-got-till-it's-gone might be a familiar cliché, but here it is well done. There are also some vaguely Christ-like overtones in the finale, with well-worn but worthwhile messages about laying one's life down for one's friends, and so on. It's no spoiler to say everything ends happily, but there's plenty of amusement, excitement and surprises along the way. The vocal cast - Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese - are all on good form, and Mike Mitchell directs the animation well.

In short, this is a good solid piece of work that nicely plugs the animated family film gap between now and when the reportedly magnificent Toy Story 3 finally arrives in the UK a month after it's US debut (apparently because of the World Cup - now I have yet another reason to hate football). CR

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