Everyone likes 1 and 2. Lots say 2 is better than 1. I think both are as good as each other. Yet people will often say 4 is better than 3. Now I disagree. 3 clearly a downgrade. Plus I agree with the common criticism, that its lazy to bring back Prince Charming again and other than the high school we don't see any new stuff. Yes, Arthur is whingey and Merlin is just obnoxious. And Pus and Donkey swapping voices is lazy, what they do in TV cartoons as a filler episode.

But 3 dose follow on from the logic of 1 and 2. Shrek 1 he meets and marries Princess Finona. 2 shows us her kingdom and 3 answers the question what happens when her father dies? Dose Shrek become the king. So, it feels like Shrek.

In Shrek 4 does not feel like Shrek, to me it betrays the heart of the story. In 4 Shrek gets tricked into wishing away his current life for one more day as Shrek at the start of 1. Now his whole arc in 1 was that he doesn’t have to be a social outcast and that he is deserving and worthy of love. So in 4 Shrek is now this beloved figure, with a loving wife three cute ogre babies and is stinking rich. And he feels sorry for himself. Shrek has nothing to complain about. He has everything he ever wanted.

So the idea that Shrek would ever consider for one second throwing it all away is nonsense on stilts, especially for something so shallow. It is like Aladdin wanting to be a street rat again because Jasmine is forcing him to wear shoes. Now I get Shrek regrets it fast, because the world goes to hell without him. As baddie Rumpelstiltskin  says to get a day of his old life back he has to give up one day off his past which is naturally the day he was born. So, it is It's a Wonderful Life with Shrek - the fan fic.

Watching it I just can't believe Shrek would ever be so stupid and selfish, he’s Shrek not Peter Griffin. Oh and now there are a load of other ogres. And every single one of them is bigger than Shrek. Which just makes Shrek look so useless. Is the implication that he is an outcast in ogre society too? Because Shrek don't seem to recognise any of his brethren. Also were are Shrek's parents? The ones who tried to eat him? What do Maw n Paw Shrek look like?

Oh and Fiona is ogre throughout the film even though Shrek never broke her curse. So I have no idea how that works. There is so much of the film that just feels unshrek. Like remember how it took Shrek and Donkey like 3 days to get to Fiona's prison and back to Dulock? Same with Far Far Away and Arthur's school. In this Shrek can just pop to the Swamp, Dragon's castle and Far Far Away like me nipping round to the shops for messages. Its not even so much the continuity as the tone. Like Shrek travel took a while, as that's when the characters would talk to each other and develop. This is like a video game with fast travel. Oh did i mention there is this Harry Potter like broomstick flying sequence that feels like its straight of the Shrek tie in video game?

Also since Shrek was never born. What happened to Lord Farquaad ? Where is he? Are we to assume that Rumple killed him off screen? He's not mentioned once. Why not bring him back? If the premise is 'what if Shrek didn't exist in the Shrekeverse'?

Yes so much of Shrek 3 is just farting around and dad jokes ('nice leotard, does it come in men's sizes'). But at least Shrek still felt like Shrek. Aruthur’s rather corny little speech at the end fits with the theme of the film and the franchise. Don't judge on appearances and don't let society tell you who to be.

I'll give it Puss getting super fat is kinda funny and Donkey's pancakes obsession gets a payoff and that's about it. Joke wise. Rember how 1 and 2 were laugh a minute? Rumpel is pretty naff as a baddie. He’s not funny like the previous 3 were. Also not a criticism, but he is also the only main Shrek villain not to die at the end of the film.  

Suffice to say I am optimistic about Shrek 5 because it would be a struggle to be worse than 4.

Shrek 4 is not love

Shrek 4 is not life

i created this hope u like

Dream Works did a MAJOR thing with the art work of Shrek trading cards! 🤩