John’s Movie Musings

I caught Shrek 4 a couple of weeks ago on a whim.  I had a bit of time in Portland and there was this theater nearby called “The Living Room Theater.”  With a name like that, I had to check it out.  Every seat in the joint were those comfy leather ones you buy for your home theater.  And if that wasn’t enough, they served lunch and beer.  Granted, an Oregon stout (or two) may not have been appropriate at a noon show, but I was the only one in the place and well, it’s Shrek.  I figured a little libation would help the humor.

What’s your opinion of Shrek these days?  The original was pretty funny.  Shrek 2 introduced some funny characters, but Shrek the Third was forgettable.  They should have stopped there, but what else are Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy gonna do?  Dudes gotta eat.

Here’s the problem with Shrek 4.  How do you make it funny?  Stupid question, for sure, but Shreks 1 and 2 relied mostly on pop culture jokes.  Funny, but not by the time they hit DVD.  They tried to get original in the third outing and failed.  So for this one, they rip off It’s a Wonderful Life (not a bad thing) and focus the humor on…wait for it…Donkey’s singing.  /facepalm.  It gets so overused, I was begging Norbit 2 got greenlit so that Eddit Murphy won’t be available for Shrek 5.

All this ranting aside, Shrek: The Final Chapter, or Shrek: Forever After (whatever it’s called) is better than Shrek the Third.  Let’s just hope it’s the last.

Grade: B-