NMR: Shrek Forever After

I, along with many people, took the third film in this animated franchise to task for coming off as tired and uninspired. Despite that, it still made plenty of money and thus, we got another entry this past summer - Shrek Forever After. This time, they tried to ground themselves a bit. They toned down the pop culture jokes and limited the screen times to some of the minor characters who had become grating as the series wore on. The end result is an improvement over the previous film, but still a far cry from the inventiveness of the original. They borrow heavily from It's a Wonderful Life here as Rumplestilskin offers Shrek the opportunity to see what his life would have been like had he not been born. The alt universe offers some interesting takes on some of the main characters, but nothing that is truly memorable. Anyone above the age of 10 will easily be able to figure out how the story will end, but the film does just enough to keep you interested in what's happening. Ultimately, it does a nice job of (hopefully) finishing off this franchise. It's happily ever after for the characters, but for the viewers, they'll just be happy that this one is not as awful as the last film. Rating: ***