Coming 2 America

Thursday Movie Picks: Actors in Multiple Roles

Thursday Movie Picks: Break into Song Scenes (Non-Musicals)

Thursday Movie Picks: The Stage

Thursday Movie Picks: Heist Movies

Thursday Movie Picks: Con Artists

The Film Emotion Blogathon

Tears of a Clown Blogathon: Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls

Movies I Grew Up With: Coming to America

If you've come around here a time of two, you might know that every Thursday I take part in a meme hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. This past week, the theme was live-action fairy tale adaptations. My last post in the Proof of a Movie God series chronicled the interesting path taken to the big screen by the film Beverly Hills Cop. A couple days ago, news broke that Eddie Murphy is in talks to play the dad of his own boyhood idol, Richard Pryor. I could not ignore all these signs any longer. I just had to write about my absolute favorite live-action fairy tale. Thank you, Movie God.

Proof of a Movie God: Beverly Hills Cop

Favorite Movie Scenes Blogathon

Tower Heist

Shrek Forever After

Directed by Mike Mitchell.
2010. Rated PG, 93 minutes.
Cast:
Mike Myers
Cameron Diaz
Eddie Murphy
Antonio Banderas
Walt Dorhn
Jane Lynch
Craig Robinson
Julie Andrews
John Cleese
Jon Hamm

Shrek (Myers) is struggling with the monotony of family life, and the loss of privacy brought on by the celebrity his adventures have earned him. He longs for the days when he was a single, and feared, ogre, free to take a mud bath in peace. This leads him to sign a deal with Rumplestilskin (Dohrn) for just one day to enjoy as the monster he once was. If you’ve paid any attention to the first three movies in the series, you know things in Far Far Away are never quite so easy. Needless to say, the deal comes with plenty of strings attached. Suffice it to say that Shrek once again finds himself trying to find true love’s kiss.

In keeping with the direction the franchise has taken, this fourth installment is a more straight-forward adventure than the ruthless deconstruction of the fairy-tale that was the original. Here, Shrek finds himself in an alternate reality and Fiona to be the leader of “the resistance” against the rule of Rumplestilskin. There’s lots of swashbuckling and Shrek trying to convince everyone that what he’s saying is true. There are lots of references to the original movie, but like I said not as much of that same style of humor. There is some, such as when we first meet The Pied Piper. When it goes down that road is when it is most successful. That said, there are other moments that work quite well.

Forever After suffers from predictability and constantly using the original as a crutch. It also gives its action scenes more responsibility. The franchis is at its best when the action supplements the humor. This movie has it reversed, the humor only supplements the action, and it is less intriguing because of it. However, its still a fun ride that for all its flaws, is a step up from the lackluster Shrek the Third.

MY SCORE: 6.5/10