When the original “Shrek” came out way, way back in 2001, there was a minor outcry among some of the more family-oriented and traditionalist outlets about the content of the computer-generated ogre’s tale. It seemed the original, which was a fleshed-out version of William Steig’s children’s book of the same name, included a bit too much innuendo, gross-out humor and violence for a few high-strung and helicoptering parental sets.
Happily, though, everyone else loved the irreverent take on the world of children’s fairy tales, and a franchise was born. Since then, DreamWorks Animation has released a veritable litter of Shrek-spawn, including two theatrical sequels, several video games, a ride at Universal Studios in Orlando and two dubiously-named holiday specials for television – “Shrek the Halls” and “Scared Shrekless.”
With that much synergistic momentum, one couldn’t be blamed for wondering whether the brand might be a little diluted by now, a little more intent on picking up gate returns from the P.C. parents and their youngest kids. Alternatively, the franchise could easily swing the other way, coasting by flying kicks and fart jokes just to fill 90 minutes.
However, since it’s a movie about ogres, the eyeballs and mud saunas are always going to be there; the truest test of whether the big green machine has sold its soul was whether the latest addition could find the right tone for its violence. If “Shrek Forever After” could bring the cartooney-yet-meaningful, intense-yet-ironic, high-stakes-and-hilarious fight scenes that the original pioneered, then it must surely maintain enough of the original’s DNA to warrant a view. It did, and it does.
“Shrek Forever After” begins with a story that will probably feel familiar and uncomfortable for parents worldwide. Shrek’s (Mike Myers, “Inglorious Basterds”) home in the swamp, once a bachelor pad and place of solitary refuge for the reclusive protagonist, has become an unmanageable thoroughfare for diaper changes, chaotic family meals and flying donkey-dragon babies. Fearing he’s lost the independence and control he once cherished beyond all else, Shrek makes a deal for 24 hours of his old life with the slippery Rumpelstiltskin (voiced by Walter Dohrn, a writer on previous “Shrek” movies). Unfortunately, the bargain also triggers a counterfactual in which Shrek never existed – a situation that can only be reversed if Shrek re-convinces his wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz, “Knight and Day”) to fall in love with him by the end of the day.
The plot is a little contrived, but the action sequences shine. One scene in particular nails the delicate mixture of violence and humor that’s part and parcel of the series. Shrek – who, in an ironic turn, is being hunted by witches – grabs a broomstick out of mid-air, sending its rider crashing headfirst into a tree. There’s a pause, but then things head downhill as a different witch bites the stem off an apple and lobs it grenade-style at Shrek’s feet, where it emits a cloud of purple gas. This allows the witches to latch onto Shrek with magical metal skulls and drag him off, hanging by three limbs from their broomsticks.
You won’t see much blood in “Shrek Forever After,” and the most common cause of death is getting eaten by something larger than yourself. That general approach carries throughout, and to good effect. The writers and animators clearly appreciate the importance of matching violence to the tone of the movie as a whole. That same careful alignment of violence to tone appears in another of last week’s DVD releases, which coincidentally also deals with alternate versions of its characters’ realities. You won’t see a lot of blood in “Inception,” either, but the reason is completely different.
There’s not much left to say on “Inception” that hasn’t already been said. The plot, on its surface, follows Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio, “Shutter Island”) through a world in which he can enter people’s dreams to extract information. Due to some mysterious events in his past, Cobb is unable to return home to his family. Because of this he accepts a dangerous, complicated assignment from a well-connected businessman. The task: Plant an idea, rather than extract one. Cobb gathers a team and they set out to perform an inception, but along the way he must also deal with the labyrinthine corridors of his own damaged psyche.
The scenes of violence in “Inception” are interesting, though, because the stakes are much different than most. It’s explained that when you’re in a dream, dying will only wake you up (or send you one level closer to doing so). Pain, however, is still in full effect, so early sequences take on a video game-like quality where it’s sometimes best to be killed and start over. For example, when Cobb’s partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”) is in trouble, Cobb leaps across a table, grabs a gun and shoots him in the chest. It’s an interesting twist, and it certainly makes for an easier rescue.
However, this set-up changes during the inception itself; there, dying in a dream will send you to a state called limbo, which is nearly as inescapable as death itself. Only once these new stakes are established do we see any significant amount of blood, as clear a symbol of mortality as there is. Notably, Cobb stays relatively unscathed throughout.
But then again, he was never really in any real danger.
Shrek: 3 stars; Inception: 4 stars out of 5
Lin Weeks is a junior majoring in finance and marketing. Upset with his omission of the DVD you were most excited about renting this week? Vent at [email protected].
