15. Shrek Forever After
This is a film that I wasn’t sure what the consensus on it was for a while now. In some circles I heard people say it was bad and in others I’ve heard people say it was good. I think this film’s reputation is kind of owed to how bad Shrek the Third was. There was this air around films having too many sequels that made people say that once you’ve gone past three you’ve killed it.
That’s not necessarily true but there does come a point where things can feel like a bit of a factory if all you’re doing is pumping out sequel after sequel and never relenting. That’s what happened with the Land Before Time movies as well as the Ice Age sequels in people’s eyes.
Watching this film now, far removed from the thoughts behind films of that era and how the film industry did its thing, I feel very reassured about my opinion that this is just a really good film actually. The thoughts and emotions behind it are really strong, in a way that feels extremely genuine and heartfelt.
It also helps that none of it feels dated in any way shape or form. There’s no parodies or references to pop culture stuff that happened during the time of this film coming out at all really. It derives all of its humor from the situation as best it can. However, because most of it is so heartfelt and serious from Shrek’s point of view it also comes across as a film that manages to do what the third film tried and failed to do; showcase just how great a happily ever after Shrek got by reinforcing how strong the relationship between Shrek, Fiona, and his family truly is.
Rumpelstiltskin is a meager little pissant who makes deals with people to better his tenure in life and ruin the lives of others. The exit clause of his contracts used to be that you have to guess his name but now everybody knows who Rumpelstiltskin is so it changes depending on the contract now. That’s a neat little inventive rewrite of the character’s folklore.
Unlike the Fairy Godmother or Jack Horner, Rumpelstiltskin was already a villain in the fairy tale he derided from so the twist put upon him deals more so with the aftermath of him being a jerk and having his name discovered. Now he’s digging out of trash cans and shit to stay afloat.
Apparently, his big break was supposed to happen when the King and Queen of Far Far Away wished to make a deal with him to help get Fiona out of the castle sooner but coincidentally, the instant they were about to sign the contract was the same instance they got word of Shrek saving the princess from the tower. Oof.
So he holds a grudge against Shrek. Shrek, meanwhile, holds a grudge against his life. He’s going a bit through a sort of mid-life crisis where he’s missing the old days of everyone screaming and running away from him while he lives alone in peace, doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Because he’s more annoyed in his daily routine he’s forgotten the flipside to how bad that life was a bit… but not entirely.
That’s why he only takes up the deal Rumple offers him for a SINGLE DAY of that life back… but Rumple takes the day he was born and whoops! Now no one remembers who Shrek is, Fiona was never rescued from the castle, Rumple has taken over Far Far Away because the King and Queen disappeared when they signed the contract, and Shrek technically doesn’t exist anymore. He needs to get Fiona to fall in love with and kiss him by the end of the day or he’ll disappear.
It’s SUCH a heavy burden to befall upon him and an intense punishment for the guy after he lost his shit and smashed the birthday cake of his children when he got a little too annoyed by everything at their party. It’s almost hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this one. All throughout watching it, I felt tense as hell because the time limit was so steep and what he had to do here took an entire journey, not a single day.
Luckily, he does have knowledge of who Fiona is on his side but it’s seldom helps the jaded princess from coming back from the emotional brink due to her fairy tale ending not coming true when the one who was to rescue her never showed up.
All of Shrek’s friends are different. They don’t remember him and their lives have been flipped upside down. It can’t help but invite images into your mind of what would have happened if Shrek failed in his endeavor to set things right. Imagine having the perfect life and ruining it because your senses couldn’t see the big picture.
I love that once he finally does, and he’s grateful to have his life back, all the annoyances before are suddenly just fun. It really does go to show that it’s a matter of perception sometimes.
I think as a film it’s actually a better put together flick than the first one. The first one is truly groundbreaking, for sure. It’s still a good movie but I feel like where that one did a good job setting up the romance and Shrek 2 did an excellent job subverting fairy tale tropes to build on it, this film does an excellent job of putting a fine point on why their relationship works.
The reason Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek Forever After work as films and Shrek the Third doesn’t boils down to the fundamental thing about these films that the third film forgot; this is ultimately a love story. Yeah, underneath all the fart jokes and Smash Mouth songs, the beating heart of Shrek lies at the center of the relationship between Shrek and Fiona. Shrek the Third wasn’t focused on that at all and relegated Shrek’s fear of having children as a backdrop to his relationship with King Arthur, which was supposed to be the real heart of that film I guess.
Except Arthur sucks and so did Charming as a villain. As a counterpart to the Fairy Godmother, he was great but the scotch tape they tried to use to get him into the position he was for the third film didn’t stick and the movie knew it too. This film does what that film did way better and sets the stakes immediately in a manner that’s impossible to ignore.
Give this one a go if you’re interested. It did a good job at making me sit and ponder the nature of things and a film that can do that has something to say and should probably be listened to.
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1 month ago
13 Apr 2025 23:22 CEST
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