Shrek Forever After

If you have a strong bad guy in a fairy tale, half the success is in the bag. In addition, if you let a banjo reference to Boorman be heard in the opening scene, suggesting that this time the movie will be on a more mature note, it doesn't really matter much if it turns out that it is a little too dry precisely to achieve the right severity (perhaps a strong word, but not unfounded compared to previous installments). In addition, as a bonus, after the botched number three, this “reboot" of the already quite annoying duo Donkey and Puss succeeded this time, which is a miracle and not a small one. (07/16/2010)

I have never been a big fan of "Shrek", but it is true that the first two movies are simply good. After that, it is only commerce trying to squeeze as much money as possible, which eventually succeeded. In my opinion, the fourth installment is better than the third, it's quite a nice return to the roots, to a different approach to fairy tales. It's funny, it has an interesting concept, especially when it comes to alternative realities, but it's still watered down and quite predictable. The magic is gone. (03/31/2014)

Another boring green film. A bit more bearable than last time, but it’s also fortunately the last film anyway. The Shrek franchise didn't deserve a third and fourth film... Perhaps the creators should have realized in time that ogres are like onions that have been peeled so many layers that there is almost nothing left. This time I think the only things that worked were the scene in which Shrek scares the villagers again (a very nice reminder of the mood of the first films) and a few jokes with the cat. The plot is one of the most typical morality stories we've seen hundreds of, and what was that supposed to mean with the supposedly funny dance numbers...? I don't know. (09/19/2012)

The villain won. The mid-life crisis and undermining of the previous happy ending have nothing to do with fairy tales, but Shrek and his family and friends surprisingly gave us a fantastic adventure in the end. The cat is going full throttle, Donkey is just right, and even the main storyline of the cunning dwarf goes through all the necessary fairy tale clichés without stumbling. And it also greatly entertains and gives a sense of closure to the enjoyable series. After a slight fear of the projection, I must be satisfied. (08/23/2010)

"Feed me if you dare!" Shrek 3 was a very weak concoction of the almost flawless first two films, so the fourth adventure of the ogre was quite promising because the previous film had set the bar pretty low. I'm glad that they managed to break out of mediocrity and offered a solid conclusion to the tetralogy, even if it fails to reach the quality of the first two films. The last call doesn't rely so much on pop culture references, rather it plays with the idea of an alternate reality and asks the question "What if...?". I understand that many viewers were not comfortable with this concept, but I personally found it fitting and enjoyed the slightly different ogre world: with the dastardly Rumplestiltskin, the (even more) fearless Fiona and the jaded Puss. PS: "You know what the best part of today was? I got the chance to fall in love with you all over again." (10/06/2022)