The Shrek movies are modern classics. Never before has such a lovable ogre ever made his way to theaters. He not only won the heart of Fiona, but ours as well. All the Shrek movies are works of art, but distinguishing between the Mona Lisa’s and the Starry Night’s can be difficult. Both are gorgeous works of art, but how do you know which one is more a masterpiece?

Thankfully we have people like me to make that distinction for you. It’s clear that the best Shrek movie of them all is not the first one. Not the last one. Definitely not the third one, but the second one: Shrek 2. To prove this we’ll be looking at two things: First, we’ll be looking at why the other three Shrek movies fail to take the top spot and then we’ll be looking at why Shrek 2 is definitively the best.

Starting with Dreamworks 2001 classic adventure Shrek. The movie is fantastic. Lord Farquaad is the most memorable villain in the SCU (Shrek Cinematic Universe). He’s undeniably evil and incompetent. He’s hilarious in his pursuit of becoming King and his kingdom is a subtle jab at Disney. Shrek also introduces the lovable characters of Shrek, Fiona and Donkey. It’s a solid movie. Unfortunately, being first isn’t always the best when it comes to movies. Shrek has to establish the characters, the character’s personalities, the world, how the world works, etc. It has to do a lot of things, and that can make the process of making a good movie suffer. Shrek does its job and it does a good job at doing it.

Skipping ahead to Shrek the Third; it’s the worst one. By. Far. It introduces far too many characters. The main cast jumps from about six people to about 16. There is not enough time in a animated movie to develop and make an audience care about all those people. It also suffers from a lazy villain. Wouldn’t it be cool if Lord Farquaad was the villain in Shrek 2? No, it wouldn’t. We’ve already experienced Farquaad, he’s no longer interesting. The villain of Shrek the Third is the worst villain from Shrek 2. Prince Charming is a good villain, but we’ve already seen what he has to offer. To bring him back in the very next movie is just boring. Worst of all, Shrek the Third just feels soulless. It feels like a cash-grab, it doesn’t feel like art.

Finally, Shrek Forever After can’t be ogre-looked. It has more charm than Shrek the Third. It is a funny movie to watch. There’s an interesting plot line, there’s funny jokes and there’s an original villain (Well, it’s not Prince Charming again.) Shrek Forever After is a worse version of Shrek 2. Still better than Shrek the Third though.

Now, why is Shrek 2 the best Shrek movie? Because it builds on the first one’s strengths. Since we’ve already be introduced to Shrek and friends and since we’ve already been introduced to the world, Shrek 2 can spend time developing all of them. We meet Fiona’s parents, Puss in Boots, we learn more about the world than just Farquaad’s kingdom. We get backstory on Fiona and we see Shrek and Fiona’s marriage take off. We’re also introduced to two lovely villains. The handsome Prince Charming and his mom, Fairy Godmother. It’s a (prince) charming story, a true successor to the original. It takes what made Shrek so memorable and ran with it. It’s not trying to be an epic like the third one and it’s not trying to be crazy like the last one. It’s more than a worthy successor. It’s the best one.

The Shrek movies are brilliant. There’s not a single bad one (Except for Shrek the Third) among them. Each has their own strengths and styles, the debate of which one is truly the best will never be ogre.