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Shrek's weekend dominance did not prevent a solid debut for Heartbreaker, but preview estimates suggest the opening weekend of Twilight: Eclipse will shake things up next time round

The saviour

It's been a long wait, but finally it's here: a movie that consumers actually want to see. After a whole month in which no new release has grossed as much as £4m, Shrek Forever After has arrived to pack the multiplexes. The green ogre's fourth adventure opened with £8.96m, including just over £3m in previews. This is the second biggest debut of the year, behind Alice in Wonderland (£10.56m). The Shrek sum represents 81% of the total grossed by the whole of this weekend's top 10 films. It also helped the market record a 227% increase on the previous weekend, when Get Him to the Greek streaked miles ahead of a weak field of battle-weary veterans.

Shrek Forever After might be bringing salvation...

Shrek Forever After (U)

(Mike Mitchell, 2010, Us)

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy. 93 mins.

Like us, Shrek yearns for the good old days here, and – somewhat tellingly – the premise finds the green ogre trying to regain his former fearsome edge. Instead, he gets tricked into an alternate reality where he basically has to re-enact the first film all over again. In some ways, such familiarity is a strength as much as a weakness, and it's nice to see these characters again. Compared to the Toy Story trilogy, though, Shrek is merely The Flintstones to Pixar's Simpsons; fun enough, but really no match.

White Material (15)

(Claire Denis, 2009, Fra/Cam)

Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert, Isaach De Bankolé. 106 mins.

After the touchy-feely 35 Shots Of Rum, Denis switches to stronger medicine with a sparse evocation of wartorn west Africa. Huppert is a defiant colonial matriarch striving to keep her family and plantation together.

CrimeFighters (Nc)

(Miles Watts,...

Get Him To The Greek (15)

(Nicholas Stoller, 2010, Us) Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Sean Combs, Rose Byrne, Elisabeth Moss. 109 mins.

Who knew that if you put together every Brit rock star cliche in the book, you got Russell Brand? Record-label nerd Hill is charged with keeping the wayward Brand on the comeback trail here, but no one's taking the story that seriously; instead there's a tireless stream of one-liners, bit parts and surreal sidetracks to keep us (just about) amused. Brand is fine, but Diddy's manic music exec steals the show.

Good Hair (12A)

(Jeff Stilson, 2009, Us) 96 mins.

Chris Rock is an amiable guide on this documentary journey into African-American hair obsession, bantering in salons, quizzing black celebrities (Maya Angelou, Eve, Ice-t, Salt-n-Pepa), and tracing the cultural and chemical origins of relaxants, weaves and wigs without ever getting too serious.

Tetro (15)

(Francis Ford Coppola, 2009, Us/Ita/Spa/Arg) Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich,...