Before I start this review, let me tell you this. Watch this movie in 3D. It’s worth it. Especially those scenes made for 3D scenes. Don’t watch the 2D unless you want to feel the regret that I felt 30 seconds into the movie (still at the intro, not yet the movie).
Okay, now that I got that out let’s continue on this review, shall we?
This is supposed to be the fourth and the last Shrek movie in the quadrology, that supposedly sums up Shrek’s version of happily ever after (and how much does it looks to our own).
The story continues a year after Shrek the Third. The kids are now a year old, Fiona’s happy, even Shrek’s happy, but not for long. Shrek yearns the simpler days before he was married, where he only answers to himself, and villagers still chase him with pitchforks and torches.
Sounds similar? Yeah. A married life vs a bachelor’s.
His only wish at that time, was to return to the day when all this haven’t happened, to the simpler times. And his answer comes in the form of Rumpelstiltskin (I had to Google this, you know).
Rumpel was a swindler, and he trades deals with unsuspecting fairy creatures, who wouldn’t bother (or didn’t know how) to read the fine print. Like Shrek. Shrek inadvertently traded a day of his old life, with his day of birth.
This causes a time paradox, where he was never born, and the world, was changed for the worst.
I have to say, I do enjoy the Shrek series. This one included and especially so that it reminds us of all the characters they have introduced. But I can’t find some, especially the villains like Fairy Godmother and Charming, anywhere. Shame. And oh, Rumpel is different from the wimpy guy you see in previous instalments.
It’s a fun ride too, but a short one. Well, I do prefer a short sweet ride, rather than a long, boring one. But as short as it were, this movie serves no more than a reminder to us about all the characters we had come to love in Shrek movies, and what might have been, if Shrek wasn’t there to bump into Donkey (fleeing away from Farquaad’s guards) in the woods.
Another thing that it tries to show is that we only know how much we’ll miss or need something (or someone), until we lost them. And being the last of the Shrek series, this is kind of apt.
I guess that’s what been the strong point of Shrek movies all these years. The problems he faced is real, although is twisted fairy tale ways. Courtship, in laws, parenthood, and yearning for the good old days. I guess we all need to look ourselves in the reflection of a giant green ogre once in a while.
I won’t go into the details. This movie need Shrek fans to be surprised by the scenes, since there might not be much more going if that doesn’t work. Don’t get me wrong. It’s definitely an enjoyable movie. But compared to the other 3, I chose Shrek 2 for the engaging story telling and Shrek the Third for the princesses.
and oh, bad news if you love Gingy…go watch to find out.