Shrek The Final Chapter

Me, my date and my dog packed up in the car and headed to Abilene's Town and Country Drive-In to watch "Shrek the Final Chapter," also known as "Shrek Forever After," or just plain "Shrek 4" (which is much faster to type).

I don't think I ever saw "Shrek the Third" but I didn't need to. The plot picks up with Shrek and Fiona at home with their little one-year-old ogre babies, and all the familiar characters are there.

Now, believe it or not, I'm an adult writing from an adult's perspective. The movie was funny, but not as funny as the first two. Or maybe it just wasn't a fresh funny. I'm sure kids would get a kick out of it no matter what.

Folks, if you don't want to be lost like I was, brush up on your fairy tales! I'm sure a lot of the jokes went right over my head because it's been a while since Hans Christian Andersen and I cuddled up in bed together.

Rumpelstiltskin (or Mr. Stiltskin as he prefers to be called) was an appropriately hateable character. I just wish a more famous actor had done the voice. The voice was that of Walt Dohrn, who was apparently a writer for Shreks 3 & 4. Wouldn't it have been better to have Steve Buscemi or Rainn Wilson? You could take the stance of some critics who say it's fantastic that a behind-the-scenes guy with great acting skills was given a big break, but I don't know, I'd rather be more entertained.

The story has a great moral: "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone," and an even greater soundtrack. And by soundtrack, I mean songs in the movie, not songs on the album. I checked and the album doesn't have the best ones. It just has Shake Your Groove Thing, Lionel Ritchie's Hello, and Top of the World by the Carpenters with a few more originals and covers.

Since I went to the drive-in, I didn't remember that it was available in 3-D. Here's an interesting point from one of the Facebook fans of Abilene Midday:

• It was a wonderful movie and well-worth going to see. but they had too many showings of the 3D but only 1 showing of the 2D here in Abilene. There is very little difference between 3D and 2D and the price difference is just too much. Too many people are out of work and are scrimping and saving their money.

Sorry, I feel like this review is a little all over the place. But, then again, so is an animated film about dragons and ginger bread cookies and cats wearing boots.

Soon I'll write another blog about Town & Country!