Shrek Forever After gets a second trailer.

I'm not thrilled about having to basically relive the character introductions of the first picture. Frankly spending a whole film with the characters having to restart their friendships or romances instead of enriching or developing them further seems like a waste of time. After all, it was never the dated music or pop-culture references that kept this series fresh, but rather the mature character interaction and surprisingly honest look at how relationships work, be they romantic or platonic. The first two Shrek films especially were two of the most honest and sophisticated romantic comedies of the last decade or so. The third was a comedown, but it at least dealt with the logical progression of these characters and their lives together (preparing to start a family, learning to deal with responsibility). Yes, I'm hopeful that this picture will deal with Shrek's apparent mid-life crisis, but it's a shame they felt the need to do a whole It's A Wonderful Life rip-off rather than just deal with the issues at play. As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson

Scott Mendelson