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Massawyrm says that SHREK FOREVER AFTER is better than the last, but the magic is still gone.
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
When you set out to forge a franchise, it is important to remember that making sequels means staying true to what your franchise is about, over further developing its characters. It might sound counter intuitive – which is why so many people fuck it up – but it has long been proven time and again to be the case. James Bond proves endlessly entertaining staying true to what the Bond Series is about, while the LETHAL WEAPON movies wore out their welcome once they stopped being LETHAL WEAPON movies and started just focusing on the ever swelling cast surrounding Murtaugh and Riggs.
Guess which franchise SHREK is most like?
The most amusing thing about SHREK FOREVER AFTER is that it is effectively the Ice Cube story.
Once upon a time there was this bad ass ogre who lived in the forest. But then, after two movies, he ended up getting everything he ever wanted. Friends, a wife, kids and was living, yes, happily ever after. But after a miserable third film and more cash yet to bilk from unsuspecting theater-goers, Shrek decides – after a deliberately annoying montage of screaming babies, friends coming over repeatedly and his wife saying the same jokes day after day – that he misses being the cold, mean mother fucker who used to live in the forest and scare the living shit out of people.
Why? Because at this point in the series, the only thing they can think to do is take away everything Shrek has in order to get him to utter the now banal realization that “I didn’t know what I had until it was gone.” So now Shrek is stuck in an alternate universe in which he was never born, requiring him to make friends with Donkey and Puss again, woo his princess again and defeat an evil king. Again.
The reason SHREK is such a beloved animation classic is *not* because Mike Myers plays a big green Ogre. It is *not* because he is surrounded by a lovable cast of characters. It is because it was a scathing, hilarious parody of fairy tales, painstakingly mocking the naivety of our youth. When Princess Fiona found a nest of eggs while singing, only to slowly dissolve to her cooking them for breakfast, I just about fell out of my chair. It was such a brilliantly jaded jab at the Disney films of old that proved to be the high water mark of a very smart, very funny film. When it debuted on VHS & DVD, I was still working in a video store which allowed us to show rated G and PG animated films over the video system. After complaints from parents, we were ordered by corporate to never show SHREK before 8PM. Apparently, it was a film too subversive for daytime viewing.
Fast forward 9 years. There is *nothing* subversive about SHREK FOREVER AFTER. There is nothing biting about SHREK FOREVER AFTER. In fact, there is very little funny at all about SHREK FOREVER AFTER. It is a limp, made for TV quality kids film that has fallen into the trap of being everything the original was satirizing – pre-made, saccharine, fairy tale bullshit. So not only did Shrek end up forgetting his hardcore roots, so too did the franchise.
While this is nowhere near as terrible as the third installment, which tried desperately to find something, anything, for its ever growing cast of characters to do, this film is wise enough to gear the plot around an idea that makes it more natural to add them all into the mix. Thankfully, about half of the background characters who kept appearing over and over again have found their way out of the series, but enough of them are around to remind you how long ago they wore out their welcome. The Gingerbread Man will never be funnier than he was in the first film, nor will Pinocchio – but that doesn’t stop them from trying here.
The kids will like it. After all, it is just a kids series now and it hits that mark just fine. Dreamworks has finally gotten over their incessant insertion of pop culture references and this feels much more like a real story – but it is a tired and weak one lacking any of the heart present in the stories it is clearly ripping off. Adults won’t get nearly as much out of this as their kids will; in fact, if anything, it will only make you pine for the sharp wit of the first two films. If mediocrity had a baseline, this would pretty much be it. Unless you’re a diehard fan of the character - salivating for more green ogre - or have kids clamoring to see it, there is almost no reason to revisit this world.
Until next time friends,
Massawyrm
Got something for the Wyrm? Mail it here.
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is bury Disney again.
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May 20, 2010 12:27:49 PM CDT
of course now i must declare shrek to be an OUTLAAAAAWWW!!!
by turketron_2
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Great review as usual Mass...
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Guys?
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Big bag of MEH.
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I've heard other rumblings that this is the best shrek so far as well as better then some of the pixar stuff, i plan on seeing this this weekend, so i hope the later is right, but i get the feeling you're right
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Shrek 3 was a travesty!!!
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...that came up with this one?
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I bet Toy Story 3 (three, no less!) retains all its magic...because, yknow, it´s Pixar and Pixar it´s all magical.
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That's my opinion.
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Also, congrats on the First. {g}
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... is like saying "At least THIS time when she had me handcuffed to the bed she only glued my penis to my leg and didn't shit on my chest and then set it on fire..."
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I saw it a couple times in theatres, and I remember I always heard audible gasps at some of the stuff they got into that flick.
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And thanks, Jason. It's the little things, sometimes.
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Lets face it, you've had one great film (Shrek), and have since done only shoddiness (Monsters Vs Aliens was almost unwatchable, and don't get me started on Madagascar). Perhaps you should watch some Pixar films and learn about STORYTELLING and CHARACTER: the two most basic fundamentals of any film.
Okay I'm done. As you were. -
the outlat joke refers to the robin hood trailer...way funnier than the whole movie is going to be...
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It's from the Russell Crowe "Robin Hood".
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... this film is going to suck Donkey's balls.
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is the Jon Hamm ogre funny?
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To be hunted for the rest of his days!
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Cuz I think that was a clever, overlooked cartoon. Any cartoon to hire Garry Shandling for voicework gets extra points from me.
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I hope MacGruber is funny.
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Yeah, that's where you lost me. Right fucking there.
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May 20, 2010 1:21:30 PM CDT
And AGAIN, it's NOT Shrek Forever After, it's Shrek The Final Ch
by return_of_fett
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SHREK THE FINAL CHAPTER is the Imax title of the film. This is a review of the theatrical release of the film. Whether or not there is anything different in these films is beyond me.
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The rest was overrated.
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I hope that in 10 years we aren't talking about how Wil Forte and Andy Sandberg have squandered their comedic cred for animated family films like Myers and Murphy have.
I guess Will Ferrel is the one notable exception, but I give him another 5 years until he is making family films exclusively.
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I'm sorry, but I could (and have) watch the first one over and over - still not tired of it. The 2nd one had its moments, was ok, but the 3rd one - well, they just ran out of ideas. No interest in seeing this one, might rent it for the kids.
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My buddies and I are going to the drive in this weekend and they're playing Shrek Forever After and Iron Man 2. I'd only go for Iron Man, but I guess a couple of them want to see Shrek. Whatever. It's $5 for the both of them and I get to drink beer.
My favorite part of the first one was when they had Gingy on the table and he spits in someone's face and says "Eat me!". Good stuff. -
That's some imagination you're packing, sir. Yowza. Also, Shrek 2 was awful. Nowhere near as good as the first, and I didn't waste my time with the third one. So if you include 2 in the "biting" revision of fairy tales, the bar must be positively subterranean, Massa.
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I kind of did a double take during the Robin Hood musical number. He likes to get "paid." Then there's the castle/penis joke, "Do you think he's compensating for something?" Yeah, they should have stopped at two. Even that one had some really unexpected jokes, the white bronco gag just about killed me.
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Made this the greatest review I have ever read.
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But sad, in a true sort of way. Wait, strike that. Reverse it. Thank you.
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May 20, 2010 2:23:33 PM CDT
i guess being gangsta is a lifelong duty like supreme court judg
by yourstepdaddy
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and farqwad. is still one of the funniest things in a modern animated movie. really very funny.
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... there should had been only one. SHREK was lighting in a bottle. It was the kind of magic that only works once.
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Work because of my happy ending theory. Not an 'actual' happy ending for the movie, but a happy enjoyable ending for the audience. Shreks 1 and 2 get boring as fuck in the last 20 minutes but then have this awesome fun Donkey song to pick you up right at the end faking you into thinking you just saw a really fun movie. So you leave the theater really happy with it. Just like Hangover ended in its biggest joke so you think you saw a much funnier movie then you did.
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that seems to derive great comfort and entertainment from seeing something familiar. I don't know how big that segment is, but Hollywood seems to be utterly obsessed with pleasing them. That's why a cool line becomes a catchphrase. And a background character becomes recurring.
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Indifferented the second, didn't bother with the third. I'm glad you brought up the first, Massa -- people seem to have forgotten there's a reason this became franchised. The first one is quality. I hope Dreamworks does better with their overfranchisation of HTTYD.
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May 20, 2010 4:05:37 PM CDT
There is a little bit of Shrek magic left in the twinkies
by jackslater4
When you centipede them up
http://tinyurl.com/289uxpu
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guess we know whats really in that cream filling now :(
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...even though it (and its sequels) featured truly awful character designs for all the human characters.
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I KNEW those goddamn things were untrustworthy. They pull the banana flavored ones from stores, but drag out the ones with that nasty-looking green stuff ("It's the cream filling dyed green, retard!1", in case anyone was feeling cute). I haven't eaten a Twinkie since the banana ones, and now, I have a reason.
As for the film, it pisses me off large that Dreamworks is again playing Musical Chairs with the titles. Is it SHREK FOREVER AFTER or SHREK: THE FINAL CHAPTER? A company that refuses to keep consistent something as simple as the titles of their animated features probably shouldn't be in the animation business. -
Not sure if I agree with concept over character, but you pretty much nailed the series. Those pictures of Ice Cube cracked me up.
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I still remember watching the first one when the Magic Mirror was talking about Sleeping Beauty, "Just because she lives with 7 men doesnt make her easy" and just rolled over. I said, "You just can't do that in a kids movie!!"
Once the credits came up, my friends were talking about how enjoyable it was but then, on the way out, I saw a bunch of kids who were talking about how funny it was too. Amazing it could resonate with kids and adults.
Can't say the same thing happened after Shrek 2 and 3. Shrek 3 was generic crap which was incredibly disappointing. Complete balls up but of course the box office would say otherwise. -
I know, fucking lame, and yet there it was, the moment that made me like the first sequel (more than the original actually). Also, we're past satirizing the fairy tale. We're ready for the post-modern reinvention.
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they are the real stars of the series now...Puss always seems to crack me up for some reason and breathed new life into the series in Part 2...and no I'm not 12 years old
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Nah, she got it from her make out session with Lindsay Lohan
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May 20, 2010 9:39:40 PM CDT
Ice Cube is the sexiest tomboy beanpole
by johndillingers20inchseveredcock
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I mean, yeah, they totally shaved off any satiric edges of the first two films, but I thought it was funny and sweet, a perfect capper for a Shrek trilogy. But just lazilly riffing on one of the oldest sitcom plots in the book (What if I were - GASP! - never born? isn't enough to entice me to see this. I can't think of one really great gag in any of the trailers I've seen to date (whereas the clip of Donkey doing that annoying mouth-popping thing until Shrek finally snaps in the Shrek 2 trailer made me laugh out loud). Glad to hear this isn't stuffed with pop culture gags (although neither was the third film, to be fair), yet the original, scrappy charm of the first has long since disappated, much like the Ice Age movies. It's kind of like Airplane!, which came along at JUST the right time to take the piss out of the previous decade's disaster movie cycle, much as Shrek did for the 90's Disney fairy tale renissance. But now, it's tough to find a fairy tale that IS told completely straight.
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They got obnoxious and offputting in my opinion. About the time the gross lady ogre threw the Little Mermaid to the sharks, I fell out of love with the franchise. Katzenberg needs to get the fuck OVER his dismissal from Disney. The Disney films Shrek made fun of are still far greater than anything Dreamworks has horked up (not that I haven't enjoyed some Dreamworks product, such as Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon). Speaking of dragon, Dragon is the only reason I'll be going to see this one. She is just too awesome.
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3 was a disaster, except for that Bronco scene which, as another talkbacker pointed out, absolutely KILLED me when I first saw it. Still funny to this day.
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Dopey old me will wind up seeing this, but I'm on the fence about paying up the extra money for 3d.
Worth it at all? -
Some of the gags are funny, the show was good, the Christmas show terrible... but it's lost any novelty because everyone's picked up the fairy tale spoof angle to some degree-even Disney. And now using the plot of It's a Wonderful Life? Maybe it's just my generation, but that was a definitely more of a tv thing- that shows would just tweak lt;s A Wonderful Life or Christmas Carol for their holiday episodes. It certainly seems unambitious to use that in a feature film.
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... lord "Fuckwad". And that was hillarious.
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...is where Snow White sends her forest animal buddies to attack the living tree guards, as Led Zeppelin plays on the soundtrack.
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The Snow White scene is still hard to forget. Funny how Zeppelin makes everything better.
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I don't know if you were in the bathroom during his parts of Shrek 2, but you certainly seemed to have missed out.
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...either way, the counterpoint remains valid.
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May 21, 2010 12:35:33 PM CDT
Oh, but in your article, Massa, you fail to mention...
by megan_foxs_tool_box
That Shrek One sucked Donkey Dick. If ever there was a more tired, and hackneyed pastiche wannabe animatiopn franchise that wishes pixar would pick up it's calls-this is it.
Shrek is the best argument for social darwinism ever heard, and you walmart-shopping trailer trash who were allowed to reproduce and are saddled with the responsibilty of screaming younglings let your watch that moronic tripe-hell, I say take them swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and do us all a favor!
On a serious note-no personal ill-feelings towards Massa-That review is fairly even-handed.
Perhaps you will get a bobblehead out of the deal.
It's cool. -
Did she try to sell you a bridge too?And Massawyrm, Capone is also saying today that the title has officially changed to Shrek The Final Chapter. You might also want to check the official website which is referring to it as Shrek The Final Chapterhttp://shrek-lime.dreamworks.com/franchise/Just sayin'.
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it's been a long time since I've seen it, but I enjoyed the original, the sequel was only ok, I never bothered with the third because it did look interesting at all, will probably pass on this one too
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if only because that's how I got to see that incredible Ice Cube image
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