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"SHREK FOREVER AFTER" (2010) (voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Mild Heavy Moderate Mild Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy None Heavy None None Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild None Moderate Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Computer Animated Comedy: After signing a contract to get his old, carefree life back, a swamp ogre finds himself in an alternate reality where his wife and friends no longer know him. PLOT: Once upon a time, Shrek (voice of MIKE MYERS) was a loner ogre who lived in a swamp and was feared by all. But then he went and saved Princess Fiona (voice of CAMERON DIAZ), befriended Donkey (voice of EDDIE MURPHY) as well as Puss in Boots (voice of ANTONIO BANDERAS), and softened up. Now married and with three kids celebrating their first birthday, Shrek finds himself stuck in what he thinks is a monotonous life, repeatedly doing domestic chores and viewed as something of a B-level celebrity rather than a fearsome monster by the tourists. Accordingly, the diminutive and ever-scheming Rumpelstiltskin (voice of WALT DOHRN) -- who nearly got Fiona's parents, King Harold (voice of JOHN CLEESE) and Queen Lillian (voice of JULIE ANDREWS), to sign over control of Far Far Away to him in exchange for breaking their daughter's curse until Shrek beat him to it in the past -- senses an opportunity. He promises to return Shrek back to his carefree glory days in exchange for just one from his past. Shrek doesn't care which one, signs the contract, and ends up once again as a feared swamp ogre. The only problem is that Rumpelstiltskin took away the day of Shrek's birth, meaning he was never born and thus didn't rescue Fiona from her curse. As a result, Rumpelstiltskin now rules the land through witches that capture ogres for him, while the likes of Pinocchio, the Gingerbread Man and Donkey work for him. The bigger problem is that since Shrek was never born, he only has one day of existence in this alternate reality. To make things worse, no one knows him, be that Donkey, a now obese Puss in Boots, or Fiona. She's now the fierce leader of the Ogre resistance movement, with other ogres such as Brogan (voice of JON HAMM) and cook Cookie (voice of CRAIG ROBINSON) following her orders to overthrow Rumpelstiltskin. With time running out, Shrek must convince Donkey and Puss in Boots to help him, all while trying to get love's true kiss from Fiona, the only thing that will break his contract with Rumpelstiltskin and return things to normal. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? They will if they're fans of any of the previous "Shrek" movies. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For mild action, some rude humor and brief language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: It's debatable whether kids view animated characters (particularly non-human ones) as role models, but here's a quick look at the main characteristics of the major ones. SHREK is the swamp ogre who's facing a midlife crisis in terms of what he thinks domestic life has done to him. After his angry outburst of wishing things were the way they once were, he signs a contract with Rumpelstiltskin to experience that for a day, not immediately realizing the ramifications of doing so. From that point on, he must befriend Donkey and Puss in Boots from scratch, while securing a true-love kiss from Fiona (who's no longer his wife in this alternate reality he unknowingly helped create) in order to break the contract and return things to normal. He drinks some. PRINCESS FIONA is his wife in the present reality and then a rebel warrior leader of the ogre resistance movement in the newly created alternate reality. Not knowing Shrek in the latter, she naturally wants nothing to do with him, although she eventually warms up to him once she realizes he truly knows her. DONKEY is Shrek's wisecracking sidekick, a talking donkey who's working for Rumpelstiltskin and doesn't know Shrek as his friend in the alternate reality. PUSS IN BOOTS is the former feline assassin who's now an obese and lazy kitty in the alternate reality. Like Donkey, he eventually comes around to helping Shrek on his quest. RUMPELSTILTSKIN is the diminutive but high-strung and manipulative spell creator who fools Shrek into signing a contract that results in Rumpelstiltskin becoming the ruler of Far Far Away. As that, he's a flamboyant but cruel leader who uses his witches to hunt down and enslave ogres. Accordingly, he isn't happy that Shrek is trying to ruin his scheme. He also drinks some. BROGAN is one of Fiona's ogre generals who's helping her in the resistance movement. COOKIE is another ogre in the movement, although he's just the wise-cracking chef. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this computer-animated comedy that's rated PG. While no profanity is present, various colorful phrases are, while a certain line of dialogue could be construed by some as having sexual connotations. There's action related fighting, striking and manhandling of others in several scenes. Some of that, moments of peril, and some visuals might be unsettling, suspenseful and/or scary to some younger kids, but probably few if any other viewers. Drinking occurs in several scenes, as does some scatological and crude humor. Bad attitudes are present, as is potentially imitative behavior, thematic elements and some tense family material. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some of that from lightning in the opening sequence. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's a spin-around camera shot, followed later by a flying scene through Rumpelstiltskin's palace (that might cause some motion issues for viewers, especially when viewed in 3D). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE In a montage, we twice see Shrek with a martini. Shrek has several "eyeball-tinis" with Rumpelstiltskin (martinis made with eyeballs on the stick rather than olives, with Shrek eating one of those eyes off the stick), and we see empty glasses on the table in front of them. We see miscellaneous people with mugs (of unknown contents) who do a spit-take upon seeing Shrek. Rumpelstiltskin has drinks with various witches. Many ogres have mugs, but we don't know the content in them. We see the Blind Mice holding what appear to be drinks. BLOOD/GORE Pinocchio refers to Rumpelstiltskin as "Rumple-stinky pants." There's a montage of Shrek's kids repeatedly burping and farting, and him carrying full diapers out to the trash. During that, we hear the comment "better out than in," while we also see Shrek heading for the outhouse, including that falling away as a bus of tourists drive by and see him sitting there (nothing explicit seen). We also see what appears to be a stream of urine hitting Shrek's face from one of those babies, but then see it's just the child holding a fish with water squirting from its mouth onto Shrek. During this, we also hear what sounds like Shrek farting. Shrek has several "eyeball-tinis" with Rumpelstiltskin (martinis made with eyeballs on the stick rather than olives, with Shrek eating one of those eyes off the stick). After Shrek rescues Fiona from being cooked on a spit, Cookie complains that he hasn't removed Donkey's "giblets" yet (it's possible some viewers may mistake that for meaning testicles). We see an assortment of ogre food, including eyeballs, live bugs and such. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Rumpelstiltskin wants to rule Far Far Away, and we first see him trying to get King Harold & Queen Lillian to sign that away to him in exchange for lifting Fiona's curse. That's followed by him tricking Shrek into a contract that will ultimately result in Rumpelstiltskin becoming the ruler, where part of his law is having witches hunt down and capture ogres for slave labor. A boy repeatedly demands of Shrek, "Do the roar." Shrek eventually does, letting out a loud, earth-shaking one. Shrek lets his repetitive domestic life overwhelm him, resulting in him lashing out at others, including his wife. He states he wants his life like it was back when the world made sense to him. Fiona then asks if that means before he rescued her, and he says "exactly." As Donkey pulls a carriage, one witch whips him, followed by another (to make him change his singing). During this, a bystander then throws fruit or something similar that hits Shrek who's held captive in the caged section beneath the two witches. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers but probably few others. In a prologue scene that takes place before the original "Shrek" movie, King Harold and Queen Lillian ride in their carriage through a scary looking land peopled by odd and sometimes scary looking characters (although played for comedy). They then meet Rumpelstiltskin who, while diminutive, could be scary looking for some younger viewers, especially when lightning illuminates but also shadows his face. The witches (standard appearance, including flying on brooms) employed by Rumpelstiltskin might be unsettling and/or scary to younger viewers. A witch flies into a tree on her broom, but another throws a gassed apple at Shrek, followed by others heaving chains (with human skulls on the end) at and capturing him. They then start to fly off with him via the chains, including them dragging him along the ground as they fly. Shrek learns that in his altered reality contract with Rumpelstiltskin, he (Shrek) was never born and will disappear forever at daybreak the next morning (and thus must race to fix things before then). Donkey nearly falls through a suspended bridge when part of that gives way beneath him. He's worried that Shrek will encounter the dragon guarding Fiona's prisoner tower on the other side, but the beast is nowhere to be found. Various ogres hide as witches fly overhead, hunting for them. Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots end up going off a cliff and fall a long way to the water below (we see distant splashes, but all are okay). Various people try to pass off others as Shrek, hoping to get Rumpelstiltskin's handsome reward. We see Shrek and Fiona chained apart, and they must contend with a huge, fire-breathing dragon that comes after them. Puss in Boots cuts a cable that drops a large platform on the dragon's head, while Donkey tries to placate the beast that then eats him. Puss in Boots then stabs the dragon in the back to make it spit out Donkey. It then breathes flames at Fiona and Puss in Boots, followed by Shrek and Fiona swinging around on their chains to wrap up the dragon (that bites at them until it's subdued). Despite Fiona kissing him, Shrek slowly starts to vanish, and some kids may worry that means he's dead (or off in limbo or something similar). At the same time, other characters then vanish, followed by the scene breaking apart and falling away, all around Rumpelstiltskin. GUNS/WEAPONS We see Fiona practicing her battle skills by flipping throwing stars and heaving spears at targets. When Shrek surprises her, Fiona holds a knife on him. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "This is madness," "Rumple-stinky pants," "Better out than in," "That's diabolical," "Do the roar" (said in a raspy voice), "Now I'm just a jolly green joke," "You have the right to shut your mouth," "Put a little mustard on mine, captain crazy," "Balsa boy," "You dirty little man," "My donkey fell in your waffle hole," "I see who wears the chainmail in your family," "Aqua purifacata" (or something sounding close to that), "Cupcake eating clown," "Feed me if you dare," "It's time to pay the piper," "Whoa, that's a whole lotta kitty," "You're a cat-astrophe," "You're re-donk-ulas," "You're insane," "Shake my booty," "What are you talking about, cracker?" (said to a cookie character), "Blardy-blardy-blar" and "Looks like we're having curly-toed weirdo for breakfast." We see what appears to be a stream of urine hitting Shrek's face from one of his babies, but then see it's just the child holding a fish with water squirting from its mouth onto Shrek. During a montage of Shrek being back in his glory of scaring people, we see a slow motion shot of pitchforks thrown at him as he "flies" through the air, but all of them miss. We see miscellaneous people with mugs (of unknown contents) who do a spit-take upon seeing Shrek. Shrek makes a "mud angel" by lying in mud and waving his arms (the same way one makes a snow angel). Later, he and Fiona do the same. Depending on his mood, Rumpelstiltskin dons various vastly different wigs, such as his "angry" one that looks like excited troll hair. Various ogres hold their nose and blow hard, thus causing a trumpet-like sound from their ears. Rumpelstiltskin throws water on a witch, causing her to melt/shrink away to nothingness. The Pied Piper plays his flute, putting a musical spell over various ogres, causing them to dance. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspense, ominous, action-oriented and heavily dramatic music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY None. SEX/NUDITY In a prologue scene that takes place before the original "Shrek" movie, King Harold and Queen Lillian ride in their carriage through a scary looking land where a woman blows a kiss toward the King who's surprised by that. Fiona shows some cleavage. Shrek and Fiona briefly kiss and then do so again. We see Shrek shirtless. After Donkey is lured into a booby trap by a pile of waffles in the woods and then falls through a hole in the ground, Shrek comments to Fiona, "My donkey fell in your waffle hole" (which some view as sounding like sexual innuendo -- on the part of the film). After Shrek rescues Fiona from being cooked on a spit, Cookie complains that he hasn't removed Donkey's "giblets" yet (it's possible some viewers may mistake that for meaning testicles). Fiona shows a little more cleavage. We see various shirtless male ogres. Fiona kisses Shrek. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Overwhelmed by his repetitive and monotonous domestic life and longing for his carefree glory days, Shrek wants his life like it was back when the world made sense to him. Fiona then asks if that means before he rescued her, and he says "exactly." Seeing Fiona and thinking of her as his wife (in the alternate reality), Shrek approaches her like that, but she kicks him away. He then has to work for the rest of the film to get her to fall back in love with him (for the first time, in this case). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT People who become overwhelmed by the day to day challenges and monotony of being a parent. Midlife crises. People who look back fondly on their "glory days." The decision to present this film in 3D while the preceding three versions were not offered that way. VIOLENCE Pinocchio catches Rumpelstiltskin tearing pages from a book. We next see Rumpelstiltskin landing out on the street, the result of Pinocchio kicking him out of the building. While playing, a baby dragon flames another baby dragon's tail. There's another shot that passes Shrek's face, leaving it partially singed. After making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, Shrek's present day world vanishes, he falls a long way, and finally lands hard on the ground. When those with a passing carriage then see him, they lose control of that and it runs into a tree. During a montage of Shrek being back in his glory of scaring people, we see a slow motion shot of pitchforks thrown at him as he "flies" through the air, but all of them miss. A witch flies into a tree on her broom, but another throws a gassed apple at Shrek, followed by others heaving chains (with human skulls on the end) at and capturing him. They then start to fly off with him via the chains, including them dragging him along the ground as they fly. As Donkey pulls a carriage, one witch whips him, followed by another (to make him change his singing). During this, a bystander then throws fruit or something similar that hits Shrek who's held captive in the caged section beneath the two witches. The Gingerbread Man kills various animated animal cracker characters (in sort of a cockfight type setting, and played for laughs). We see that some witches have Shrek restrained by a metal neck collar, cuffs and such as they lead him to Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek manages to break free and flies off on a witch's broom through Rumpelstiltskin's palace, avoiding parts of the building and various "bombs" thrown at him by the other witches that are in hot pursuit. A massive hanging ball ends up swinging and causing some structural damage, followed by witches crashing into that after Shrek escapes (with Donkey) by blasting through a glass ceiling panel. A booby trap causes a log to swing down, hit Donkey, and knock him into an archery target stand, followed by him falling through a hole. Moments later, he's then dragged away by chains. Seeing Fiona and thinking of her as his wife (in the alternate reality), Shrek approaches her like that, but she kicks him away. Rumpelstiltskin throws water on a witch, causing her to melt/shrink away to nothingness. Fiona stomps down on Shrek's foot, grabs his arm, bends it behind him, and throws him out. Rumpelstiltskin kicks one witch. Fiona and Shrek spar, using shields to block blows, although she hits, kicks and then smashes him with a large tree (done half-playfully, and with no injuries). Ogres ambush witches accompanying a carriage, grab and knock them around, followed by tearing the carriage open, only to find it empty. We see that Puss in Boots has just eaten the Gingerbread Man (as food). Pinocchio's nose extends and accidentally hits Rumpelstiltskin. We see Shrek and Fiona chained apart, and they must contend with a huge, fire-breathing dragon that comes after them. Puss in Boots cuts a cable that drops a large platform on the dragon's head, while Donkey tries to placate the beast that then eats him. Puss in Boots then stabs the dragon in the back to make it spit out Donkey. It then breathes flames at Fiona and Puss in Boots, followed by Shrek and Fiona swinging around on their chains to wrap up the dragon (that bites at them until it's subdued). At the same time, Cookie fires chimichangas at various witches, hitting them. The Three Pigs gobble down various animated animal cracker characters (as food). Reviewed May 15, 2010 / Posted May 21, 2010

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