The Shrek franchise absolutely nailed one storytelling element with its first two movies, one which fell flat with the subsequent two sequels, and the key to Shrek 5‘s success lies in accomplishing this again. The best Shrek movies tend to be the earlier ones; while Puss in Boots: The Last Wish made a wave in 2022 and sH๏τ up the ranks, Shrek 2 is still widely considered to be the winner. In the years when Pixar was still dominating animation with hit after hit, Shrek carved out its own niche with its grungy style and subversive, resonant fairy tales.
The first stellar Shrek movie deals with themes of insecurity and self-acceptance through love and friendship, while the even better sequel expands the cast and builds upon the story’s messaging by depicting Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) dealing with judgment outside their group of misfits. Meanwhile, a lot of the humor in the first two movies comes from cannily making fun of fairy tales. Where Shrek 3 and 4 fail is not being as smart in repurposing fairy tales, and essentially the same scene in the first two movies shows us what Shrek 5 needs to get people on board from the get-go.
Shrek & Shrek 2 Have Basically Flawless Opening Scenes
Storybook Fairy Tales Are Ruined, & It’s Amazing Both Times
Shrek and Shrek 2 both have iconic opening scenes, which leverage roughly the same format of being a familiar fairy tale-inspired movie opening reminiscent of Disney before something happens that absolutely shatters the illusion and lets us know what this movie is going to be like. In the first movie, we get a storybook recounting the broad framework of the tale where a princess in a tower needs rescuing, accompanied by dreamy music. Until Shrek makes it clear what he thinks of this, the high-fantasy-style score cuts out, and “All Star” starts up.
Shrek 2 had the trickier job of topping this and did it even more brilliantly.
Shrek 2 had the trickier job of topping this and did it even more brilliantly. It starts with that storybook again, which hints at some plot details that will be important in this movie, before segueing into Prince Charming’s (Rupert Everett) epic and arduous rescue quest. Yet the writers understand that we have already seen a Shrek movie at this point, and throw in indicators of Charming being another ridiculous character of this world with his obvious vanity, while not quite breaking our immersion yet.
Then, once again, the dreamy music cuts out, the Wolf (Aron Warner) tells Charming Fiona’s on her honeymoon, and his fantasy is ruined, because the story he thinks he’s in has already happened. It’s smarter because it teases the Prince Charming figure that Fiona thought she wanted in the first movie, a past wish that will also become important in Shrek 2. Yet it is still hilarious and again downplays the romanticized fairy tale, when the princess’ tower is now just somewhere Shrek and Fiona’s friend can lounge about, they are as happy as can be, and Charming’s worldview is completely upended.
Why Shrek 3 & 4’s Openings Don’t Work As Well
Shrek 3 Is A Weaker Version of The First Two, While 4 Just Gives Up
Shrek the Third attempts to do this fairy tale-opening-which-is-wrecked again, but doesn’t work as well for several reasons. It starts us off with Charming — a character we already know as an antagonist — apparently charging through the forest on another heroic quest. The punchline of him just being on a stick horse at a cheap dinner theater comes too early. It’s more mean-spirited when Shrek’s friends are all there making fun of him to his face, rather than mocking the bigger fairy tale concept. And, the whole thing happens in the regular setting, rather than a somewhat disconnected reality that is suddenly grounded.
It shows how at this point the franchise was running out of original ideas and, rather than telling weighty stories about overcoming self-doubt, it would rely on the by now well-worn tropes of “this is not your average fairy tale” stories.
It clearly didn’t take as much brain power and mostly sets up Charming as being down on his luck, so he can be this movie’s main villain. Shrek Forever After uses a storybook again, but only to segue into a more conventional expositional opening, showing Fiona’s parents considering a deal with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) in a flashback, until they get the news that Fiona has been freed. It shows how at this point the franchise was running out of original ideas and, rather than telling weighty stories about overcoming self-doubt, it would rely on the by now well-worn tropes of “this is not your average fairy tale” stories.
Recreating The Opening Scene Magic Would Mean Shrek 5 Gets Off To A Strong Start
Shrek Needs A Classic Opening Scene Again, & People Will Be Hooked
When a writer has come up with a clever gimmick, it is extremely difficult to write that bit over and over again and come up with ways for it to be fresh and just as clever each time. However, Shrek 3 and 4 start off with subpar opening scenes which set up lackluster at best stories containing interesting ideas that are not pushed to their most heartfelt or interesting ends. Shrek 5 having a stellar opening scene that lives up to the other two doesn’t mean the whole movie will be good, but it will convince me that there is still some creativity left.
Putting the audience in a better mood from the start will help Shrek 5 if it motivates viewers to be more willing to accept other shortcomings. However, if they are smart enough to come up with something of the first two movies’ brilliance, it probably means they’ve written a stronger movie overall. Shrek 5‘s ideal opening scene probably uses the meta-elements to comment on this movie coming so long after the last one — a bit like how the narrator in the trailer was surprised to see Zendaya on the cast list, a star from a new generation.
