The Bottom Line
It’s not a stretch to call Shrek Forever After a vast improvement over the third installment in the series, 2007’s Shrek the Third, as that movie seemed to indicate that everyone’s favorite ogre had officially worn out his welcome. The film manages to breathe new life into the aging franchise, and although it’s not quite as fresh as the original, Shrek Forever After is an entertaining and frequently hilarious sequel that leaves the viewer wanting more.
Pros
- Stunning computer-generated animation
- Feels more like a Shrek movie than any of the sequels
- Spotless Blu-ray transfer
Cons
- None worth noting
Description
- Featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Jon Hamm, John Cleese, Antonio Banderas, and Julie Andrews
- Directed by Mike Mitchell
- Rated PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language
- Blu-ray Release Date: December 7, 2010
Guide Review – ‘Shrek Forever After’ Blu-ray Review
The Story
As Shrek Forever After opens, Shrek (Mike Myers) has settled into a comfortable yet repetitive life with Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their triplets. His days are spent looking after the kids and hanging out with old pal Donkey (Eddie Murphy), but Shrek begins to long for some time alone in his swamp. Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), who has been looking for a way to wrest control of Far Far Away from its King (John Cleese) and Queen (Julie Andrews), spots his chance after encountering Shrek one fateful afternoon, and tricks the big green ogre into signing a contract that essentially negates his very existence. After spending some time in a world where Donkey doesn’t know him and Fiona hates him, Shrek sets out to find a way back into the existence he had taken for granted.
The Bonus Features
Shrek Forever After arrives on Blu-ray in a package that’s bursting at the seams with bonus features. Given that this is most likely the final Shrek adventure – not counting 2011’s Puss in Boots spinoff – DreamWorks Animation has gone all-out and emerged with a package that answers pretty much any and every question you might have had about the making of the film. The nuts and bolts of the movie’s production are covered in the disc’s commentary track (which features Dohrn, director Mike Mitchell, and producers Teresa Cheng and Gina Shay) and also in a special feature entitled “The Animators’ Corner,” which offers up a picture-in-picture look at the effort that hundreds of animators went through in bringing the film to life.
Next up are a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes revolving primarily around the movie’s actors, with “Spotlight” detailing Mike Myers’ ongoing work in the series and “Conversations with the Cast” consisting of a discussion between Myers, Diaz, and Murphy about all four movies. The disc’s special features are rounded out with a number of odds and ends, including three deleted scenes, a look at the making of the Shrek musical, several interactive games, and a bit of silliness in which the various characters sing Christmas songs. The set also includes a copy of the movie on DVD.