Yes, it’s that time of year again. The kids have broken up from school and the country is trembling with that thunderous and eternal summer cry – ‘I’m borrred’! Gone are the days of macaroni jewelry boxes and pooh sticks. Today’s little darlings demand high-tech, high-action adventure, which kicking a ball about with Charlie from next door simply won’t satisfy. These precious six weeks are their only chance to escape from an otherwise extremely stressful lifestyle. So, how to deal with our children during these long, sticky summer days. Lock them in a cage? Remove all sugary food items? Earplugs? The solution is much simpler my friend…

“Abandon all hope ye who enter here”. Such reads the sign that confronts Queen Lillian and King Harold as they approach the unfriendly terrain of Rumpelstiltskin’s land in the opening scene of Shrek Forever After. 93 minutes later and you are left wondering who the words were really directed at. Beneath the fireworks of what has been celebrated as the the final chapter of a universally adored franchise lies an apology for an exit that is more dogged than triumphant.

It’s been a summer drought which has left film-lusters like us weeping into our Back To The Future comfort blankies. For a whole month, no opening film has grossed more than £4 million. This has been due to a number of things; the World Cup, the glorious un-British sunshine, as well as because, well, the films out at the moment are a bit crud. But it looks like Shrek 4 has changed all that.

Paramount have released the first trailer for Shrek 4 – Shrek Forever After which is (hopefully) the final instalment of the Ogre’s adventures.