By the middle of the second act, Forever After finally finds its groove, becoming mildly amusing (the actors -- Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas -- are in fine form) but never rising to the inspired heights of the original.
Side by side, the four Shrek films look like the stages of man. You have Shrek as ogre, Shrek as husband, Shrek as daddy, and now, Shrek as George Bailey.