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Unhappily ‘Forever After’

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The fourth incarnation of the franchise, Shrek Forever After, proves that it really is impossible to keep the love alive indefinitely.

The fun, irreverent pop-culture referencing franchise that made such an impact in 2001 is now looking more and more like a poor excuse for keeping Mike Myers in business. After a second less impressive and a third rather poor outing, the Scottish ogre and his friends are back for what is supposed to be the final instalment of Shrek.

Hyped for its first appearance in 3D, Shrek Forever After feels tired, outdated and lacks the charm or intelligence of its competitor, Toy Story 3, that still managed to keep up when it got the 3D treatment earlier in the year. Worst of all, the filmmakers seem to have decided it would be better if they cut down on the jokes and paid more attention to the plot, resulting in a messy story full of schmaltz that doesn’t give its cast enough of a chance to do what it does best: crack jokes, act crazy and make fun of itself.

Taking the premise of what exactly the old fairy-tale adage “happily ever after” might mean, Forever After finds Shrek going through a mid-life crisis, bored with his happy life with Fiona and the kids and wishing he could go back to his halcyon days of mud baths and striking fear into the hearts of the happy folk of Far Far Away. He strikes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, only to wake up in a world ruled by the red-haired imp where his old friends don’t recognise him and Fiona is the Boadicea-like leader of the ogre-resistance movement.

To get things back to normal and have the family movie feel-good epiphany that he “didn’t know how good he had it until he lost it”, Shrek must get Fiona to realise that he’s her true love and kiss him quick.

Lots of battle scenes with witches, ogres and an increasingly irritating, cackling Rumpelstiltskin take up too much screen time before everything works out and the green couple end up back in the world of happily ever after.

Myers’s animated version of his So I Married an Axe Murderer Scott Mendelson is more tired than ever, Cameron Diaz irritates with a voice that’s equal parts patronising and obvious and even Eddie Murphy has to rein in the singing and whining that gave Donkey life at the beginning of the tale.

As fairy tales teach us and as the producers of Shrek should have realised at least two films ago, all good things must come to an end.

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Watch Shrek Forever After movie for iPhone

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Shrek Forever After

Resolution – 480×192 px
File format – MP4
Language – English
Subtitles – No
Bit Rate – 500 kbps
Size -361 MB

Download Here

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Shrek Forever After – Wii Game Review

June 26, 2010 By 1 Comment

Shrek is back for one last romp in the swamp! Is this game a keeper or one to Four-get? Check our Shrek Forever After Wii game review to find out!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Before or after enjoying the film in theaters, you can take control of the action in Shrek Forever After on your Wii. The storyline in the game roughly follows that of the movie. In the game, you will get to play as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots.

Gang of Four

Shrek Forever After for the Wii is an action adventure game where you follow a large green arrow towards a goal point, fighting enemies and solving puzzles along the way. Each of the four characters you control has a special ability for fighting and for clearing away obstacles. Shrek can move heavy objects, Puss can climb, Donkey can kick down doors or knock things loose, and Fiona likes to set things on fire.

All characters can fight with basic attacks and each has their own special move that distracts or stuns the enemies. You can upgrade the characters strength, defense and special ability as you play.

After Forever

Shrek Forever After is not too long of a game. However, the dialogue and voice acting is pretty funny to listen to and you can always play the game again in co-op with up to four players in total. Since each will take one of the four characters, you will need to work together to beat the game, but you can still compete with each other as you are able to steal coins from each other.

The game is not hard at all and is great for younger fans of Shrek, the Three Blind Mice are there for hints if you need them. The controls are pretty good and easy to learn. Although the game is a bit on the short side, co-op adds to the game and there are even some puzzles and treasure chests that you cannot get by yourself, encouraging a second play through with a friend or two.

Reviewed by Kidzworld

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Donkey Photos

June 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Shrek Forever After - Donkey

Shrek Forever After - Shrek and Donkey

Shrek Forever After - Shrek, Puss and Donkey

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‘The Karate Kid’ Kicks Out ‘Shrek 4′ From Box Office Peak

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

“The Karate Kid” has made a strong debut at North American Box Office. The remake of the 1984 film with the same title which has just been released on Friday, June 11 lands on the top spot of the chart with an approximately $56 million cume.

Another newcomer “The A-Team”, which is supported with more notable cast such as Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper, only collects an estimated $26 million on its first weekend. Thus, the action comedy movie sits behind the Jaden Smith-starring flick on the chart.

Meanwhile, “” which had ruled the Box Office for three straight weeks stumbles to the third place this weekend. The 3-D animation from DreamWorks adds an estimated $15.8 million to its domestic gross.

Also losing two places from last week’s positions are “Get Him to the Greek” and “Killers”. The comedy which sees collaboration of two funnymen Russell Brand and Jonah Hill is on the fourth with an estimated $10.1 million revenue, while the romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl rounds up the top five with an approximately $8.2 million.

Top Ten Movies at Box Office for June 11 -13:

  1. “The Karate Kid” – $56 million
  2. “The A-Team” – $26 million
  3. “” – $15.8 million
  4. “Get Him to the Greek” – $10.1 million
  5. “Killers” – $8.2 million
  6. “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time” – $6.6 million
  7. “Marmaduke” – $6 million
  8. “Sex and the City 2″ – $5.5 million
  9. “Iron Man 2″ – $4.6 million
  10. “Splice” – $2.9 million
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Game Review: Shrek Forever After PS3 and Nintendo DS

June 19, 2010 By 1 Comment

Shrek Forever After comes to the console and handheld with some pretty decent gameplay and great graphics for both versions but the same story plays out on both systems but for young Shrek fans it works.

Shrek Forever After comes to just about all the gaming systems and I received the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo DS versions which are both almost identical in gameplay. You start out the game as Shrek but eventually get to play as Fiona, Puss In Boots and Donkey as you follow along with the same story line of the animated film.

Rumpelstiltskin is taking Shrek on his latest adventure by removing the one event that changed his life, meeting Fiona and sending him through his current films, er, adventures. Shrek is given a chance to see what his life would be like if he never met Fiona so you have this two world adventure to puzzle your way through.

You play one of the four characters of Shrek, Fiona, Puss and Donkey each with their own special abilities to fight your way through each level. The games have both enemies to fight and puzzles or mini games to work through using the four characters with general fighting, combination attacks and special abilities.

The game has you start out as Shrek and introduces you to the gameplay mechanics of going around bashing stuff and solving some decently simple puzzles. This is definitely not an adults game but more of a young adult to kids game who loves the Shrek world and wants to immerse themselves in the last of the Shrek films and games.

Once you have continued on in your adventures you will unlock both combination moves and each characters signature attacks as well as more areas to explore. While the Nintendo DS game leaves out as many areas to explore and items to collect both games have plenty to do and find.

Each character has its own special abilities that are used to solve puzzles throughout the levels with Shrek being able to manipulate objects, Fiona can set things on fire, Puss can climb and Donkey kicks things. Using  these combinations you are put to task to solve puzzles as well as fighting using the various styles of each character.

Weapons for Fiona and Puss are swords while Donkey kicks with Ogre being the bare fisted boxer type and each also has some combination moves with button combinations. Most of these moves work well but are more button mashing attacks that are common in adventure games.

Controls for the PS3 game are the usual buttons and triggers of the Six axis controller and the Nintendo DS uses both the buttons and the touch screen for puzzles and mini games. The puzzles are not all that hard and kids should have few problems solving them except for a few toward the end of the adventuring.

Things get tougher as you move toward the end battle with Rumpelstiltskin but youth should have no problems being able to complete the game on either console system. I found both games enjoyable enough but after a time it does get repetitive and much like other button mashing adventure games but kids should find it enjoyable if they like Shrek or adventures of this type.

Shrek Forever After for the PS3 has some decent graphics with good audio and is very good for a console game from an animated film. The Nintendo DS version looks and sounds about as good as you would expect but not nearly as good as it could have been given a bit better budget and a little more time in development.

Both versions play well and there were no major problems with either but they are also not the best as an adult adventure game but kids should have fun. Both versions are well worth the cost of a purchase or rental for Shrek fans who just want more of that big green ogre for a last romp through his life and times.

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Shrek Forever After – Review by David Stratton

June 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Everybody’s favourite ogre is having a mid-life crisis; Shrek isn’t the scary creature he used to be; life with Fiona and three demanding baby Shreks has evolved into a depressing routine. Unwisely, he signs a Faustian agreement with the evil Rumpelstiltskin to give the nasty little fellow a day out of his life in exchange for a return to his former life; but the day he signs away is the day he was born, so, like James Stewart in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, he faces a world in which no-one knows him….

True love’s kiss is, of course, the answer to all his problems – but Fiona, who is leading a SPARTACUS-like revolution of enslaved ogres, has other things on her mind than kissing….

The SHREK franchise is a hugely enjoyable one, with funny characters and a knowing way with mocking fairy-tales and popular culture. This is said to be the last in the series, and it is looking a little tired; Shrek’s grumpy middle-aged frustrations occupy a bit too much running time. But there are always compensations; Puss in Boots has become a fat cat now, and as voiced by ANTONIO BANDERAS – he’s hilarious; and EDDIE MURPHY’S motor-mouth donkey is always good for a laugh.

MIKE MYERS, CAMERON DIAZ and the rest are back again, while WALT DOHRN, head of the team that cobbled together the story for the film, is fun as the very nasty Rumplestiltskin. I saw the film in 3D, and the animation was, as always, excellent; it’s probably just as good in 2D.

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Shrek Forever After: The Game Review

June 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The fourth entry in the saga of Shrek, the world’s favorite Scottish ogre, has just hit theaters, so it’s only natural that an iPhone game tie-in would appear on the App Store to coincide. The question is, does Shrek Forever After succeed as a stand-alone videogame, or is it just another movie licensed cash-in?

One of the best things about this game is its story, which has been nicely condensed to fit into cutscenes between levels. The game tells the tale of Shrek taking on the wicked Rumpelstiltskin in order to save his beloved Fiona. The voice acting is pretty strong, with reasonable approximations of the movie’s celebrity cast, but the lip syncing could make a stuffed animal cringe.

Shoryuken!

The game is divided into 11 fairly long levels. Each level has you doing a number of different things, from solving puzzles and fending off rowdy villagers, to racing Donkey around a busy town circle. The things you’ll do the most, however, are running and jumping, and here’s where the problems begin. Not only do the controls make navigating the game’s terrain somewhat difficult, but the camera often inhibits your ability to see where you’re going.

Like in most Gameloft games, you get an onscreen D-pad and a couple of action buttons. The D-pad isn’t as responsive as it needs to be and, to make matters worse, Shrek moves around very quickly. It’s almost like he’s skating from place to place rather than running. The jump button is also less than responsive, which becomes a big problem once you get to some of the more difficult platforming parts toward the end of the game. It’s not uncommon to lose several lives in a row because the game didn’t register your button inputs.

The old childhood game of stone the ogre.

The camera is also responsible for needless deaths. Your viewpoint moves on its own, which would be fine if it did a better job of showing you what danger lies ahead. On the contrary: often you’ll be running toward the camera and a pit will appear onscreen right before you have to jump, giving so little time to react that it seems more unfair than challenging. Other times, the camera will view the action from an odd angle that camouflages a pit in the ground, and you’ll accidentally slip into.

On the plus side, we enjoyed the level designs. Branching pathways give you multiple routes to get to the same place, and hidden offshoots sometimes lead to secrets. Some of the platforming parts, like when you have to jump from one raft to another to get across a stream, are well designed and would be a pleasure to play if the controls were tighter.

So although Shrek Forever After is full of cool ideas for a 3D platformer, we can’t recommend it in its current form. The poor controls and inadequate camera angles cause more damage than the thoughtful level designs and excellent gameplay variety can repair. If the developers had spent a little more time tightening things up, it might be a different story. But as is, this is one fairy tale you’re better off experiencing on the big screen.

http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/shrek-forever-after-the-game-review

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Shrek Forever After: The Game Trailer on iPhone & iPod Touch by Gameloft

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Gameloft, forever cranking out iPhone games, surprised us today with a previously un-announced Shrek platformer, coming soon for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Why this remained hidden to us during their Paris event last week, who knows! The game sees you playing 11 levels as the ogre hero in what looks to be both a 3rd person and sidescrolling platformer. The sidescrolling looks similar to their other platformer ‘Castle of Magic’, while the 3D sections looks akin to Rayman or Crash Bandicoot. We’re always dubious of anygame with the subtitle ‘the game’, just look at Kick Ass!.. but for now we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.

We’ll have more on this soon, but in the meantime check out the trailer below:

By Nigel Wood, UK

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Shrek Forever After Review

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The green ogre and his princess bride come full circle in “Shrek Forever After” (Paramount), a more conventionally heartwarming and less raucous animated riff on fairy tales than its three predecessors.

Those relishing the cheeky idiom that helped the franchise achieve blockbuster status (and occasionally push the PG envelope) might be disappointed to learn its swan song has so much in common with the Disney canon it began by parodying.

On the other hand, though less amusing absent so many snarky pop-culture references, “Shrek Forever After” affirms the values of love and fidelity in a way that should gladden parents. Director Mike Mitchell and company opt for the sweeter, more traditional charms of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” which their slightly convoluted plot mimics.

The story begins before the action of the first film. Just before Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) rescued Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) from the tower in which she was imprisoned by a dragon, her royal parents (voiced by Julie Andrews and John Cleese) were about to sign a Faustian bargain with Rumpelstiltskin (voice of Walt Dohrn). By forfeiting the kingdom of Far Far Away, they would save their daughter. Thankfully, Shrek’s heroics made the transaction unnecessary.

Fast-forward to the present and the swamp where Shrek and Fiona have settled down with their cuddly triplets. Although being a peace-loving father has its rewards, Shrek finds domesticity lacking: No one fears him, and his daily routine is exhausting. He yearns for a little freedom and the excitement of his previous line of work terrorizing villages and wreaking havoc.

During their children’s first birthday party, Shrek has a panic attack-cum-meltdown and argues with Fiona. Rumpelstiltskin overhears and proposes a magical deal that will allow Shrek to experience his old life for one day in exchange for another day in his life. Rumpelstiltskin chooses to take the day Shrek was born. Since Shrek never existed, Fiona was never rescued and thus the kingdom of Far Far Away falls into Rumpelstiltskin’s devious hands after all.

Shrek is just another ogre in this scenario, while Fiona leads the ogres’ underground resistance against Rumpelstiltskin and his witch minions. She has no idea who Shrek is and, as they try to overthrow Rumpelstiltskin together, Shrek must steal True Love’s Kiss, thus breaking the spell and allowing everyone to live happily ever after.

Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy) and a portly Puss in Boots (voice of Antonio Banderas) lob wisecracks and otherwise help reunite the lovebirds to end tyranny’s reign. Shrek falls for Fiona all over again and becomes keenly aware of his good fortune.

The franchise’s high production values are in evidence, with the actors’ strong characterizations matched by expressive animation featuring a vibrant palette and many creative perspectives. Whether there’s any good reason (other than higher ticket prices) to project the movie in 3-D as well as conventional format is debatable. As before, an array of pop music ballads and rock ‘n’ roll songs are engagingly deployed.

Because the film contains nothing edgier than the elements listed below, adults deciding whether it’s suitable for children can err on the side of being inclusive.

By John P. McCarthy

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