---
title: "Shrek Forever After"
year: 2010
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/shrek-forever-after"
fi1m_id: "shrek-forever-after"
imdb_id: "tt0892791"
tmdb_id: 10192
wikidata_id: "Q208131"
fi1m_score: 60
critics_score: 57
critics_reviews: 15
published: "2026-10-05T11:45:03.034888+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-05T11:45:03.618834+00:00"
region: "HU"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Shrek Forever After (2010)

Directed by Mike Mitchell · 1h 33m · NMHH 12 · Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Family

## Identity

Shrek Forever After

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/shrek-forever-after
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** shrek-forever-after
- **IMDb ID:** tt0892791
- **TMDB ID:** 10192
- **Wikidata ID:** Q208131
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892791/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/10192, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q208131

**Fi1m score: 60** · Critics 57 from 15 reviews

*In a sentence:* An ogre’s midlife crisis, a cat that has let itself go, and the first film told again with the lights down

> The fourth Shrek is a clear improvement on the third: smaller, better tempered, with a decent villain and an alternative Far Far Away worth the visit. It is also the first film’s story run again, and it knows it.

## Synopsis

Shrek (Mike Myers) has the life he once fought for: a swamp, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), three ogre babies and a tour bus every morning full of people who want to hear him roar. He is bored to the bone. At the children’s birthday party he loses his temper, and in the woods afterwards he meets Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), a small dealmaker with a cart of contracts, who offers him one day as a real ogre in exchange for one day from his childhood. Shrek signs. He wakes in a Far Far Away where Rumpelstiltskin is king, witches hunt ogres from broomsticks, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) pulls a witch’s wagon and does not know him, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has grown fat on a cushion, and Fiona leads an ogre resistance. He has until sunrise to undo the deal.

## Review

Three films in, Shrek has a swamp, a wife, three babies and a problem the people who make these films seem to have shared: nothing left to want. *Shrek Forever After* is about that. It opens on an ogre whose days have become the same day, and then it lets him sign them away. It is a clear step up from [*Shrek the Third*](https://film.one/film/shrek-the-third) (2007), and it is also the first film’s story told again with the colours turned down.

The first twenty minutes are the best written thing the series has done since the second film. Darren Lemke and Josh Klausner give Shrek a day and then make him live it on a loop: the babies wake him, the tour bus arrives, a stranger asks him to do the roar, the outhouse door comes off in his hand. Nick Fletcher cuts the loop a little shorter each time round, so the joke is in the editing as much as the script, and by the third pass we felt the trap close.

Enter Rumpelstiltskin, voiced by Walt Dohrn as a small, needy man with a different wig for every mood. He offers Shrek one day as a proper ogre, feared and free, in exchange for one day from his past, and Shrek signs without reading. The world he wakes into is where Peter Zaslav earns his credit. Far Far Away’s castle has gone to ruin, the sky is the grey of washing-up water, witches patrol on broomsticks and run ogres in chain gangs, and Rumpelstiltskin holds court in a palace of candles and mirrors with a goose at his side.

The returning cast are given one good variation each. Cameron Diaz’s Fiona is now the leader of an ogre resistance who has never met Shrek and has no intention of being rescued, and Diaz plays her harder and better for it. Eddie Murphy’s Donkey is pulling a witch’s wagon and has no idea who this ogre is, which lets Murphy be frightened of Shrek again, and he is still the quickest voice in the film. Antonio Banderas’s Puss in Boots has become a pampered house cat the size of a cushion, and the sight of him trying to leap and failing got the loudest laugh out of us in the whole 93 minutes.

The problem is that we have been here before, and the film knows it. An ogre who wants to be feared learns that he would rather be loved; a princess who does not need him comes round. That was [*Shrek*](https://film.one/film/shrek) (2001), and it was fresher then because the fairy-tale jokes were new and nobody had drawn the swamp before. Here the pop-culture needling has mostly gone, which is a mercy, but nothing much replaces it except a shape borrowed from *It’s a Wonderful Life* (1946) and a clock running down. The Pied Piper sequence, in which an army of ogres is made to boogie against its will, is the only set piece we would show to someone who had not seen the film.

Harry Gregson-Williams brings back the series’ old themes and plays them slower and sadder in the altered world, which does a good deal of the emotional work the script is too busy for. And the last stretch, which we will not describe, got us a little. Mike Myers and Diaz play the final scenes straight, with no gag to hide behind, and after four films and a great deal of noise the quiet landed harder than it had any right to. We were slightly embarrassed to be moved. We were moved all the same.

It carries a U certificate and it runs 93 minutes, and it does the thing a fourth film is for, which is to stop with some dignity. Children who like the ogre will like it. Adults who were tired of him by the third will find the tiredness has been written into the script and turned, just about, into a subject. Watch it at home with the children, and stay awake for the opening twenty minutes even if you plan to doze through the middle.

*Fi1m score 60, published 5 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics agree the fourth Shrek is a step up from the third, with more heart than its immediate predecessor, though few are moved beyond mild approval. The praise clusters on the premise, an alternate world borrowed from It’s a Wonderful Life, and on two supporting turns: Rumpelstiltskin as a lively villain and Antonio Banderas’s Puss in Boots. Several reviews also like the renewed emotional business between Shrek and Fiona and call it a decent place to stop.

The reservations are about freshness. A clear minority find it tired and lazy, recycling the first film’s story without taking its characters anywhere; The AV Club says it wastes the chance to look properly at Fiona and the costs of parenthood, and Variety calls the animation dated. The 3D divides the reviews almost evenly. The spread is wide, and the warmer notices come mostly from the British press, with Empire and HeyUGuys at the top.

## Straight answers

**Is Shrek Forever After worth watching?**

*Shrek Forever After* is worth watching for children who like the ogre and for adults willing to sit through a story they have seen before, and we scored it 60. The opening twenty minutes are the best writing the series has managed since the second film, and the quiet final scenes moved us more than we expected. The middle is the first film's plot run again with the colours turned down.

**How long is Shrek Forever After, and what is it rated?**

*Shrek Forever After* runs 1h 33m and is rated 12 by the NMHH in Hungary. It is a comedy and adventure film.

**Where can I watch Shrek Forever After in Hungary?**

*Shrek Forever After* is streaming on SkyShowtime, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in Hungary, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from Ft 690. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Shrek Forever After compare to Shrek the Third?**

*Shrek Forever After* is the better film by a clear margin: smaller, better tempered, with a decent villain in Rumpelstiltskin and an altered Far Far Away worth visiting. [*Shrek the Third*](https://film.one/film/shrek-the-third) states its one idea in the first reel and repeats it for an hour while Donkey and Puss wait in the wings. Anyone tired of the series after the third will find the fourth has written that tiredness into its script.

**Do you need to have seen the other Shrek films before Shrek Forever After?**

*Shrek Forever After* makes most sense if you have seen the first film, because its story is that film's told again and its best jokes depend on knowing Donkey, Puss and Fiona as they were. A newcomer could follow the plot, since the alternative Far Far Away introduces everyone afresh, but the ending lands hardest on those who have sat through all four. Start with the first instead.

**What should I watch after Shrek Forever After?**

After *Shrek Forever After*, try [*It's a Wonderful Life*](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life) (1946, Fi1m 91): The original never-existed story, and the one this film is quietly tracing. Then [*Groundhog Day*](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day) (1993, Fi1m 88): A man lives the same day until he deserves a different one; and [*The Princess Bride*](https://film.one/film/the-princess-bride) (1987, Fi1m 86): Fairy-tale mockery that loves what it mocks, and still the model.

**What order should I watch the Shrek films in?**

Release order is the safe choice for Shrek, and it is the order [our collection page](https://film.one/collections/shrek) lists them in. *Shrek Forever After* is the most recent of the 4 Shrek titles on Fi1m; before it comes [*Shrek the Third*](https://film.one/film/shrek-the-third). [The full order.](https://film.one/collections/shrek.md)

### Reviews we read (15)

- **Empire**, James White (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the fourth film a satisfying return to form and says the franchise is going out on a high. He praises its focus on character and the renewed emotional arc between Shrek and Fiona. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/shrek-forever-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Betsy Sharkey (78/100, inferred): Sharkey finds the film a welcome return to form, with more heart and cleverness than its predecessor. She especially praises the emotional depth and the animation’s successful partnership with 3-D. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-may-21-la-et-shrek-20100521-story.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds it an enjoyable, good-natured family comedy and a pleasing end to the series, while hoping it really is the last installment. He praises its relaxed feel and entertaining villain, Rumpelstiltskin, but notes that the franchise has lost the original film’s subversion and impact. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jul/01/shrek-forever-after-film-review)
- **Screen Daily**, David D'Arcy (64/100, inferred): The review’s verdict is not available in the accessible page text. No praise or complaint can be identified because the article is behind a paywall. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/shrek-forever-after-/5012989.article)
- **Radio Times**, Andrew Collins (3/5): The review finds the fourth Shrek film dull in its domestic setup but more engaging once its darker alternate world emerges. It praises the cleverly conceived, dystopian take on It's a Wonderful Life. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-znqpeq/shrek-forever-after/)
- **Time Out**, Anna Smith (3/5): The available page information does not reveal Smith’s verdict. The standfirst singles out the film’s sci-fi parallel-universe premise. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/shrek-forever-after-1)
- **Slant Magazine**, Nick Schager (2/4): Schager finds the film innocuous but unnecessary, arguing that its story repeats the first film without developing its characters. He singles out Rumpelstiltskin’s manic energy as a bright spot in otherwise tepid proceedings. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/shrek-forever-after/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, The Associated Press (35/100, inferred): The critic finds the fourth installment entertaining but tired, with less charm, humor, and heart than its predecessors. Banderas’s scene-stealing Puss in Boots is singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/shrek-forever-after-film-review-29507/)
- **The AV Club**, Tasha Robinson (30/100, inferred): Robinson finds the film dispiriting, faulting its lazy execution and recycled story ideas. She singles out its squandered potential to explore Fiona’s life and the costs of parenthood. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/shrek-forever-after-1798165034)
- **Variety**, John Anderson (30/100, inferred): Anderson finds the film an underwhelming, dated installment that borrows too heavily from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ He praises the sight gags and the vocal performances of Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas, despite criticizing the animation’s dated look. [Read](https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/shrek-forever-after-1117942605/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Colin Hart (85/100, inferred): The critic finds it a fitting finale that far exceeds expectations. They praise the engaging plot, strong returning cast, and effective use of 3D. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/shrek-forever-after-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, Mayer Nissim (75/100, inferred): The critic finds this a satisfying, touching finale that restores the series’ sense of fun. The story’s balance of heartfelt moments and jokes earns praise, while the ineffective 3D is the main complaint. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a224919/shrek-forever-after/)
- **Den of Geek**, Ron Hogan (3/5): Hogan finds the film a decent but unnecessary end to the series, with little of the humor or charm of the earlier entries. He praises the occasional sweet moments and musical cues, while faulting the weak comedy and largely unused 3D. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/shrek-forever-after-review/)
- **Eye for Film**, Tony Sullivan (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film merely okay, though funnier and edgier than its predecessor. He praises Puss-in-Boots’ performance but faults the 3-D presentation and the new villain’s voice work. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/shrek-forever-after-film-review-by-tony-sullivan)
- **NME**, Andrea Hubert (35/100, inferred): Hubert finds the sequel tired and only okay, though it reasonably justifies its existence. She praises its occasional return to the franchise’s dark comic vein and its clever use of 3D in tunnels and hallways. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-movie-11419-306799)

## Details

- **Director:** Mike Mitchell
- **Director:** Mike Mitchell
- **Writer:** Josh Klausner, Darren Lemke
- **Editor:** Nick Fletcher
- **Music:** Harry Gregson-Williams
- **Production design:** Peter Zaslav
- **Producer:** Teresa Cheng, Gina Shay
- **Cast:** Mike Myers as Shrek (voice); Eddie Murphy as Donkey (voice); Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona (voice); Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots (voice); Walt Dohrn as Rumpelstiltskin / Priest / Krekraw Ogre (voice); Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian (voice); John Cleese as King Harold (voice); Jon Hamm as Brogan (voice)
- **Runtime:** 1h 33m
- **Certificate (NMHH):** 12
- **Release (Hungary):** 8 June 2010
- **Genres:** Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Family
- **Part of:** [Shrek](https://film.one/collections/shrek.md) · 4 of 4
- **Budget:** $165 million
- **Box office:** $753 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV8bbMxPBdc

## Where to watch in Hungary

- SkyShowtime: streaming, hd
- Netflix: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent Ft 690, uhd
- Apple TV: rent Ft 799, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy Ft 1,790, sd
- Apple TV: buy Ft 1,990, sd

*Checked 2026-10-05.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie 2011: Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Puss in Boots: The Last Wish* (2022): The cat gets his own film and, unexpectedly, the series’ best one
- *It's a Wonderful Life* (1946), Fi1m 91: The original never-existed story, and the one this film is quietly tracing — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/its-a-wonderful-life.md)
- *Groundhog Day* (1993), Fi1m 88: A man lives the same day until he deserves a different one — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/groundhog-day.md)
- *The Princess Bride* (1987), Fi1m 86: Fairy-tale mockery that loves what it mocks, and still the model — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-princess-bride.md)
- *Wolfwalkers* (2020), Fi1m 84: Irish hand-drawn animation about a hunted people, with a real sense of place — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wolfwalkers.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/shrek-forever-after