Shrek is a film franchise created by Dreamworks and…well, it became a cultural phenomenon.

Shrek’s ‘original storyline’ ended with Shrek Forever After, though it seems like there’ll be a Shrek 5 now.

This is where it all started and…it’s pretty good.

However, I find myself more hesitant to re-watch this one over any of the others. I’m not sure what it could be.

Having just re-watched it…yeah, I think this is the best of the Shrek films.

However!

I’ve started to think that it would have been more narratively and thematically satisfying for Shrek and Fiona to have become humans. The film’s structure seemed to heavily suggest that this would happen: Fiona saying she sacrificed a lot for Shrek; Shrek expressing his displeasure with Far Far Away and the fact he doesn’t seem to fit (hinting at him being wrong for thinking this); Shrek becoming human in spite of Fairy Godmother; Shrek’s willingness to be human forever for Fiona.
The impression I got was that the film was hinting that Shrek was wrong for wanting to just run back to the swamp, forgetting Far Far Away. Thus, the natural consequence of this would be that the film proves him wrong. But the way the film is structured now actually proves that Shrek was…right? Which is very strange, because the film also suggests that Shrek changes…but he doesn’t actually change at all. He goes back to where he was originally.

Something else I picked up on is that Prince Charming isn’t actually a complete idiot. He isn’t incompetent either.

I ended up re-watching this right after the second film and…yeah, it’s not quite as bad as people say it is. It’s still worse than the first two films.

It became clear that there were some kind of production issues and the two rejected storyboards suggest that Arthur and his highschool life had a much larger presence in the original conception. So my current guess is that they realized they weren’t really making a Shrek film, panicked, and re-wrote the story to make it more Shrek-centric. This had mixed results of course.
I wouldn’t be opposed to the Arthur highschool stuff…but my approach would have been to spin it off into a spin-off of some kind.

Also, Prince Charming being the villain is pretty great story-wise. Since it grants Shrek a personal connection to the villain that he didn’t have before…and it’s a direct consequence of the second film. I could praise this more but I don’t know how.

I think the princesses are a mixed addition. Their designs are actually really good and their banter is pretty good most of the time…but they also didn’t do that much?

The last thing I’ll mention is Guin. Her speaking as a mix of a medieval maiden and a valley girl was a surprise, but a welcome one. Her dialog for the 1 minute she was on-screen was mesmerizing and it’s a shame she seemingly had a greater role in the original story.

This film is a fitting end to the Shrek series…I think. Maybe.
This film does have a few issues though.

It seems like this film pretends that Shrek the Third never happened. Despite his children having been born in that film. I don’t think any characters who were important in the Third ever show up in this one. To be fair…most of the film takes place in an alternate timeline and the part that doesn’t is at a birthday party. Though why Arthur isn’t present is unusual, considering Shrek and Arthur had a rapport going in the Third Film.
Also, none of the princesses are present either, which is also quite unusual.

I also came to the conclusion that the villain in this film should have been…Prince Charming. Yeah, he’s dead, but hear me out.
The best Shrek 3/4 would have been one that merged the plotlines of those two films. In fact, you can see some similarities between the two films: both Charming and Rumpelstiltskin end up bringing Far Far Away to ruin; both of them hire witches; both want to kill Shrek in a public display.
I can probably think of more, but I’ll move on.
The issue with the fourth film is that Rumpelstiltskin kinda just comes out of nowhere (also, he retcons his own presence in the third film). He’s presented as a villain who has a personal connection to Shrek…but he really doesn’t. Shrek doesn’t know who he is. Comparatively, Charming would have made a lot more sense.

I also re-watched this recently and I still think it’s a fantastic film…so I won’t say much. For now. Maybe.
The animation is especially great.

• I’ll add links later.