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secondlina(Spoiler free review)
I love Shrek. I've always loved Shrek. I loved the heartwarming touches, the hilarious humor, the deconstruction of classic and Disney-adapted fairy-tale rules. I loved how they used pop music rather then lyrical prose à la Disney. And I loved that Shrek always kept this whole "True love, and it's kiss, trumps ALL" routine and actually made us believe it.
The first Shrek, the beginning of the franchise, was amazing, obviously. The second had a bit less heart, but remained hilarious and action-packed, introducing new characters that really rocked, like Puss in Boots and Fiona's mother and father (admit it, they are pretty amazing parents). The first two films ad a good story and a good villain. This was not present in the third. In the third, the story was poorly pasted together from Shrek's fear of parenthood and the world's longest and most boring sidequest, topped off with pitiful and kinda weak villains. Charming was designed to be a tool and a mama's boy. He doesn't have it in him to be a villainous leader. And showing that off does not make it funny. Needless to say, after the horror of the third, I was actually scared to see the fourth.
In Shrek Forever After, Shrek, now a domesticated family man, longs for the days when he felt like a "real ogre" and is duped into signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek suddenly finds himself in a twisted, alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumpelstiltskin is king and Shrek and Fiona have never met. Now, it's up to Shrek to undo all he's done in the hopes of saving his friends, restoring his world and reclaiming his one True Love. But he only has a day to so. You give a day to get a day, and as soon as the day is done, the alternate future will become the real one.
This movie was good.
It wasn't the first, or the second, but it was a great ending.
This movie took a darker and more adventurous tone then the first three. There's still jokes, but it's harder to laugh at a pun when the pun is being made in a desolated, horrid alternative universe setting. Despite that, I laughed a few times and became misty eyed a few others.
In the darker parts I liked, there was a greater exploration of Fiona. Mostly, of the time she spent locked up in her tower. See, in the alternate universe, nobody came to save her. And, according to other plot elements, her parents and the fairy godmother, didn't attempt to free her either. Imagine being stuck in a tower, possibly with no more food being delivered, and knowing that no one will come to save you? That segment really amde me feel bad for Fiona. I loved how she seemed to have stopped believing in true love while still holding on to a tiny spark of hope while she fought for her kingdom and had Puss as her confidante. It was interesting.
Fiona seemed more interesting then Shrek in this movie. Shrek, like in the third and second, deals with the regret of not being able to be what he believes he wants to be, and not being able to give his wife what he believes she deserves. The movie had the same type of plot as "It's a wonderful life", but rather then fully focusing on how the world profited from his existence, Shrek also sees how his existence was enriched by the world around him. It's touching.
So yeah, not as good as the first, but a more that satisfying ending. You close the "Shrek" book in the credits knowing that your heroes will be okay. And considering how attached I got over the years to these animated friends of mine, i'm quite delighted to see they will live happily ever after.
- Isa
p.s. I was sad to see that the fairy godmother was fully absent from the plot. Fiona's parents were present and we see why they do not help her. I still would have expected Fairy Godmother to resist Rumpelstiltskin moving on to the kingdom she wanted for herself. Fairy Godmother allying with the orgre resistance? That would have been epic. But it would have distracted from the core plot. I guess we can assume she switched kingdoms when she saw Far Far Away was going to hell. Or maybe she god offed by Rumpelstiltskin's possy of witches. Or something.
p.s. 2 - I wonder if disney's Rapunzel will explore the whole "Being locked in a tower sucks and is depressing" angle. No fairy tales really explore that in the originals (the princess always seems okay with being there). I would love to also see Disney's take on it.
p.s. 3 - Rapunzel's revenge is a graphic novel where they actually explore the tower thing and Rapunzel's character in a stempunk setting. I recommend it.
I love Shrek. I've always loved Shrek. I loved the heartwarming touches, the hilarious humor, the deconstruction of classic and Disney-adapted fairy-tale rules. I loved how they used pop music rather then lyrical prose à la Disney. And I loved that Shrek always kept this whole "True love, and it's kiss, trumps ALL" routine and actually made us believe it.
The first Shrek, the beginning of the franchise, was amazing, obviously. The second had a bit less heart, but remained hilarious and action-packed, introducing new characters that really rocked, like Puss in Boots and Fiona's mother and father (admit it, they are pretty amazing parents). The first two films ad a good story and a good villain. This was not present in the third. In the third, the story was poorly pasted together from Shrek's fear of parenthood and the world's longest and most boring sidequest, topped off with pitiful and kinda weak villains. Charming was designed to be a tool and a mama's boy. He doesn't have it in him to be a villainous leader. And showing that off does not make it funny. Needless to say, after the horror of the third, I was actually scared to see the fourth.
In Shrek Forever After, Shrek, now a domesticated family man, longs for the days when he felt like a "real ogre" and is duped into signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek suddenly finds himself in a twisted, alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumpelstiltskin is king and Shrek and Fiona have never met. Now, it's up to Shrek to undo all he's done in the hopes of saving his friends, restoring his world and reclaiming his one True Love. But he only has a day to so. You give a day to get a day, and as soon as the day is done, the alternate future will become the real one.
This movie was good.
It wasn't the first, or the second, but it was a great ending.
This movie took a darker and more adventurous tone then the first three. There's still jokes, but it's harder to laugh at a pun when the pun is being made in a desolated, horrid alternative universe setting. Despite that, I laughed a few times and became misty eyed a few others.
In the darker parts I liked, there was a greater exploration of Fiona. Mostly, of the time she spent locked up in her tower. See, in the alternate universe, nobody came to save her. And, according to other plot elements, her parents and the fairy godmother, didn't attempt to free her either. Imagine being stuck in a tower, possibly with no more food being delivered, and knowing that no one will come to save you? That segment really amde me feel bad for Fiona. I loved how she seemed to have stopped believing in true love while still holding on to a tiny spark of hope while she fought for her kingdom and had Puss as her confidante. It was interesting.
Fiona seemed more interesting then Shrek in this movie. Shrek, like in the third and second, deals with the regret of not being able to be what he believes he wants to be, and not being able to give his wife what he believes she deserves. The movie had the same type of plot as "It's a wonderful life", but rather then fully focusing on how the world profited from his existence, Shrek also sees how his existence was enriched by the world around him. It's touching.
So yeah, not as good as the first, but a more that satisfying ending. You close the "Shrek" book in the credits knowing that your heroes will be okay. And considering how attached I got over the years to these animated friends of mine, i'm quite delighted to see they will live happily ever after.
- Isa
p.s. I was sad to see that the fairy godmother was fully absent from the plot. Fiona's parents were present and we see why they do not help her. I still would have expected Fairy Godmother to resist Rumpelstiltskin moving on to the kingdom she wanted for herself. Fairy Godmother allying with the orgre resistance? That would have been epic. But it would have distracted from the core plot. I guess we can assume she switched kingdoms when she saw Far Far Away was going to hell. Or maybe she god offed by Rumpelstiltskin's possy of witches. Or something.
p.s. 2 - I wonder if disney's Rapunzel will explore the whole "Being locked in a tower sucks and is depressing" angle. No fairy tales really explore that in the originals (the princess always seems okay with being there). I would love to also see Disney's take on it.
p.s. 3 - Rapunzel's revenge is a graphic novel where they actually explore the tower thing and Rapunzel's character in a stempunk setting. I recommend it.
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Date: 2010-05-25 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2010-05-26 08:13 am (UTC)