SomeBODY once told me... that Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4), was better than Shrek the Third for many reasons; some may argue that it was the best. In this article I will be ranking Shrek movies, in my opinion, from worst to best.
I make this my final conclusion, that Shrek 2 beats them all with the solid characters and their humor, and the message it brings of accepting each other the way they are. I am also extremely excited for the new Shrek 5 to come out in 2019, and is hopefully a step up from Shrek 4.
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Allow me to summarize the plot of one of my favorite movies: inside of an old storybook, an outcast leaves his rural home, encounters and befriends misfits on his quest to save a kind and elegant girl from marrying a dopey and funnily-named prince. Once he arrives at the castle, the outcast engages in a standoff with the prince, ultimately rescuing the girl and living happily ever after.
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There are a total of 6 feature-length Shrek movies, including the 2 Puss in Boots films. There are also 9 short films in the series, 3 TV and interactive specials, and a Puss in Boots TV series. It was recently announced that Shrek 5 is in development and a Donkey spin-off movie may be in the works as well.
If you want to have a Shrek (and Puss in Boots) movie marathon, it'll take you around 9 hours to watch every one. Shrek is 90 minutes long, Shrek 2 is 93 minutes, Shrek the Third is 93 minutes, Shrek Forever After is 95 minutes, Puss in Boots is 90 minutes, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is 102 minutes.
The films mentioned below are solely the feature length films that have been released, meaning that this does not include the many animated shorts, themed rides, and spinoff stories that have come from this origin story. The order of films is based on the timeline of events that take place within the universe, not in order of release date.
Hailed as a masterfully successful sequel that kept the Shrek spirit alive, Shrek 2 takes zero missteps in the continuation of the Shrek-iverse. Summoned to the kingdom of Far, Far Away by her parents, Fiona and Shrek travel way out of his comfort zone in order to meet the standards and expectations that come with marrying into royalty. With the ever-successful side character, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) returning again for this film, it was a pleasant surprise to add Puss in Boots into this film initially as an antagonist before swiftly transitioning to yet another member of their quirky troupe.
Ramping up its endless references to pop culture and phenomena, Shrek the Third satisfies the thirst for more Shrek but suffers a bit in narrative cohesion and the heart and soul that it began with. When Shrek learns that he is next in the line of royalty, he searches the kingdom desperately for the only other known member of the royal bloodline, Artie (Justin Timberlake) in order to shirk his responsibility as heir to the throne. Despite losing a bit of overall quality, the action, jokes, and occasional darkness of this movie make for a pleasant viewing experience for any Shrek fan.
A smashingly successful sequel in the Puss in Boots series, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish takes a giant leap into the future of action animation and storytelling in a fantastic way. After living a life of adventure and reckless abandon and plowing through 8 of his 9 lives, Puss must go on a journey to find the mythical Last Wish: a sought-after gauntlet of personalized trials that will earn the victor a magical wish. Impressively improved animation aside, this movie does a fantastic job writing its narrative and characters, including and especially Wolf (Wagner Moura): a villain that is arguably one of the best animated villains since Scar of The Lion King.
A universally beloved film turned 20 this year, just one year shy of being able to buy itself a beer in Delhi. It spawned three sequels (one ominously titled Shrek Forever After), several video games, a spin-off movie, a musical, a upcoming sequel movie to the spin-off movie, and one very angry review from the Guardian.
What was it about Shrek that so captured our imagination back in 2001? Was it the simultaneous reference and parody of childhood stories that we took to immediately? Was it the crassness of the lead character, smoothed over by an unconvincing Scottish accent? Was it the 'beautiful on the inside' message of the ending, a message as true about the movie as it appeared to be about its lead characters?
Or rather, what was it about 2001 that Shrek captured our imagination then? Was it the fact that quality content had dried up over at Walt Disney Animation Studios, the Metallica to Dreamworks's Megadeth? Or that Pixar had not kicked into gear yet? Was it the fact that standalone movies were still eagerly consumed back then?
The entire plot is kicked off by a royal edict from Lord Farquaad outlawing all fairy-tale creatures and calling for their arrest. This causes a refugee crisis as fairy-tale creatures flee to the only safe harbour they could find: Shrek's swamp. Shrek, absolutely livid at the infringement of his private property, marches over to Lord Farquaad's living quarters, i.e., the royal castle, and demands that his right in the swamp be declared absolute. Unclear about what the hell Shrek is referring to, Farquaad offers Shrek a deal: rescue Princess Fiona and you can keep the swamp. Thus begins the one-of-a-kind tale of Shrek, the rescuer of princesses, the subverter of Prince Charming expectations, and the maker of fart jokes.
The criminalisation of an entire class of persons, an ensuing crisis of statelessness and the concentration of power in one megalomaniac's hands are serious issues that are perhaps out of place in a light-hearted article about a light-hearted movie that just turned 20. And yet, here we are.
It's because these issues carry so much gravity that it was important to introduce them to children aged 9 and up. Shockingly, these and similar issues were never dealt with with as much moral clarity as in Shrek. It's clear to everyone watching that Farquaad is evil, and compensating for something. And Shrek, ugly and mean and selfish and antisocial as he is, is the good guy, simply because he stood up to monarcho-fascism.
Children, and adults, automatically took to that core message. There is no wisdom in obeying authority for the sake of obedience. What was Shrek supposed to do, invest in high concrete walls and a security system? No ma'am, not when he can simply travel by foot for 3 days, fight a fire-breathing dragon, climb the stairs of the tallest tower, rescue an (initially) ungrateful princess, escape the dragon from before, walk back for 3 days and suffer heartbreak. Yes, Fiona will consent to enter into a legally binding marital contract with him at the end of the movie, but he doesn't know this at the time!
Ogres are made of layers, and through the runtime of the movie, many of these layers are slowly and painstakingly peeled away. Metaphorically speaking, of course. In fact, by the end, Shrek even agrees to have all the fairy-tale creatures stick around in his marshy swampland. This is in direct contrast to the beginning of the movie, where the character's entire motivation for embarking on the odyssey was to reclaim uninterrupted property rights. The real triumph was the friends we made along the way.
It's hard to believe, but it's been almost 16 years since DreamWorks Animation released the first Shrek into theaters, launching a multi-billion dollar franchise (that is supposed to continue sometime in the near future). If it's been awhile since you sunk your teeth into the animated fairytale comedy, you might have forgotten just how many movies Shrek and Shrek 2 parodies and paid homage to.
For those who may not have time to sit down and watch the first two Shrek movies just to soak them all up, one fan has put together a video taking a look at the various references to other movies, from Beauty and the Beast to Alien to Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring. You just may have forgotten how many gags there are referencing other movies.
Some are more obvious than others, such as the inclusions of several characters we've seen in Disney movies, while others I'm not convinced were intentional and may just have similar style (like the dragon flight scenes being compared to Dumbo and Hercules).
One that's never occurred to me is part of the dinner scene in Shrek 2 being lifted from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is one of those references that's just for the adults. Though most of the kids who grew up on Shrek are old enough to get married and have their own kids now, and that's more than a little scary to think about.
As for the movie references in Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After, we don't really care as much because those sequels are pretty lame. You can argue about that in the comments if you want. Thanks to Gizmodo for bring this video to our attention.
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