Well the news is out about Shrek 4 and where that story is going to go, and frankly I think the warning bells are tolling, "stop now!" comes the cry...

The film is going to be an origin story, it's going to tell us where Shrek came from, how he came to be the way he is, and probably take away all the magic that is Shrek.

That's the word according to DreamWorks head Jeff Katzenberg when he talked about the next phase of the franchise. Okay, well he didn't say the bit about taking away the magic, but we've seen it happen so any times before when a story goes too far, especially when it goes to drain the last bit of life out of a franchise by heading to a prequel.

The story from Cinema Blend has Josh saying that Shrek the Third was a really bad film, and even if it wasn't I think the franchise is going too far now.

It is in danger of becoming a parody of itself, loosing the subtle writing that made it so good and the adult overtones. A joke only works so long with someone, no matter how many times you tell it. I even hated the idea when they brought in the cat to dilute the Shrek-Donkey relationship, and now there are characters upon characters appearing.

So in a way it's good that they are going to go back to concentrate on Shrek, but at the same time I can't help but think that a fourth and a prequel spell the end, or at least should do.