Review of Shrek Forever After (2010) by Filipeneto — 17 Jan 2021

After three box office hits (with "Shrek the Third" not justifying half the ticket money, to be honest), DreamWorks bet on a fourth production. Truth be told, the producers seem to have learned from the mistakes of the third film and reinforced their attention to the script this time, but there is no way to solve the wear and tear of the material and characters. Without something really different or new, it is just another film to add to the sequence, and the ticket office reflected that, regressing in comparison to the previous film.

The script is relatively simple: a year after the birth of their three children, Shrek and Fiona are organizing a grand birthday party for the little ones. They are happy and everything is going well but, to Shrek's dismay, his life has never returned to what it was: instead of the quietness of the swamp and feeling threatening as an ogre, he feels that he has become a tourist attraction that it doesn't scare anyone. Wishing to change everything, but not quite knowing how, he is deceived by the dwarf Rumpelstiltskin, who is an expert in fraudulent and deceptive magical contracts. So, with a signature, he sells him the day he was born, allowing the dwarf to change his whole life and create an alternative reality, where Shrek is sent, and in which he never lived in the swamp, never saved Fiona... and never was born.

Honestly, the film seems to me satisfactory in that it does not seem as confused and as absurd as "Shrek 3". The story is good, but it can still be somewhat confusing for young people, who may not understand the paradox created in the film. Another problem with the script is the choice of the villain: in fact, unless we are avid fans of fairy tales, few will know who Rumpelstiltskin is! He is an unknown villain. In contrast, the film carries a very didactic message about the importance of valuing what we have while we have it, and not just when we no longer have it. And Fiona has never seemed so heroic to us or so distant from the regular fairy tale princess! We know the rest, we've seen three films in the franchise, and it's hard to do anything else that surprises us. The material is worn out.

As has been the rule in this sequence of films, the voice actors have been retained and are almost the same as we have heard about since the first film "Shrek". In general, their work continues to be impeccable and, if there are failures, they are due more to the writing of some dialogues, and there are some that are quite cliché and loaded with sentences-made, but this ends up being a lesser evil, compensated largely by the general improvement of the jokes.

At a technical level, the film is very good and does not lag behind the first two. The animation was very well done and the visual is excellent, with great colors and an excellent use of light and contrast. The film is much faster than its predecessors, with a lot more action and fighting scenes, and that helps a lot to make the film more appealing and interesting. The soundtrack is good and back to betting on pop music hits like "Isn't It Strange" by the Scissor Sisters, as well as a beautiful and welcome cover of the song "One Love" in the unmistakable voice of António Banderas.