Film review: ' Shrek 4: Forever After', seems to be running out of steam

Film: Shrek-4: Forever After
Director: Mike Mitchell

Cast(Voices): Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, Justin Timberlake, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Craig Robinson
Rating: * * * ½

After accumulating millions of dollars and gathering fans in equal measure following three runaway successes the Shrek franchise seems to be running out of steam. Forever After, the first to be rendered in 3D, hopefully the last of the sequels, goes back in time following a midlife crisis affecting the lead character and causes a sort of late-life crisis for the super successful franchise itself.

Its certainly not a wonderful life for Shrek(Mike Myers) and his princess Fiona(Cameron Diaz) following the birth of their triplets. The first birthday becomes occasion for dissent, male ogre menopause takes hold, leading to Shrek walking off in a huff only to become prey to the evil Rumplestiltskin(Walt Dohrn). He loses a day of his childhood and manages to misplace his happily ever after future. Borrowing liberally from Frank

Capra's It's A Wonderful Life, the film explores what Far Far Away might have been like if Shrek never managed to kiss the princess. A few minutes through the runtime, the narrative veers into prequel mode. Shrek, the animated ogre is burdened by an existential crisis, the Capraesque plotline allowing for further expansion of the story to include a wide range of characters including Rumplestiltskin, 3 little pigs, the gingerbread men, a flurry of flying witches and ogres of every shape and size building up a resistance of sorts. Mike Mitchell and his writers Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke create wonderful smile-worthy moments while squeezing out as much juice as possible from the not-so-fresh premise.

The Sky-high Imax 3D images are a real treat to the eyes. The scorched forest where Shrek finds himself is brilliantly rendered- you get to see close-ups of horrified faces, projectiles coming at you at tremendous speed and witches flying across the skyscape a hairsbreadth away from your face. The use of 70s hit song Top of the world sung by the late Karen Carpenter also adds pathos and feeling to the narrative. Forever After may not be the best Shrek enterprise considering its forced origin but it could well be a swansong worthy of one of the greatest animated creations of all-time. With the 3D glasses on, its a fun ride all the way through, no doubt!