Shrek Forever After

Everyone knows and loves Shrek--at least the first one. Now onto its fourth installment, the Shrek franchise brings their story to a close. The story goes that Shrek is feeling that he has lost his touch and has gone soft. He thinks that he is a sideshow attraction and that everyone is no longer scared of him. Rumpelstiltskin meets Shrek and says that he can give him a day to be a real ogre again in exchange for a day from Shrek's childhood. With Rumpelstiltskin's hidden agenda, Shrek now has 24 hours before his existence is wiped off the face of the earth to break the contract--he has to find true love's kiss. The catch is that his wife, Fiona, nor anybody else knows who he is.

There are a few slow minutes towards the beginning, but it quickly picks up its pace and never slows down. This is the best Shrek movie since the first one. It is hysterical and extremely clever. Rumpelstiltskin is as creepy as ever, in a Joker-from-Batman type of way--you can't get enough of him. The film is full of great messages and enough heartfelt lines that will make you smile without thinking of them as too cheesy.

Let me tell you that you do not have to had seen the 2nd or 3rd films in order to see this one--actually, you don't really even need to have seen the first one (but who hasn't?). I am not giving a grade for this movie based on how well it compares to the ones before it, because it is its own movie. And although it is not quite as good as the first Shrek film, it is the absolute perfect way to close the series.

Overall Grade: A


-Ethan Brehm