shrek 4

Plot

The film begins just before Shrek (Mike Myers) rescues Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in the first film. Desperate to lift their daughter's curse, King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) meet with con artist Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), who requests becoming king of Far Far Away in exchange. Just before the deal is contracted, the king and queen learn that Fiona has already been rescued. In the present, a disgruntled Rumpelstiltskin wishes Shrek was never born and seeks revenge.

Meanwhile, Shrek has grown tired of being a domesticated family man and celebrity among the local villagers, leading him to yearn for the days when he felt like a "real ogre." He takes his family to Far Far Away to celebrate his children's first birthday where lots of fictional characters are present. Shrek gets annoyed here when the three little pigs eat the kids'(Fargo, Fergus and Felicia) cake. After he lets out a roar of frustration, the entire crowd cheers. He then smashes up a replacement cake and storms off. He meets Rumpelstiltskin, who offers to give Shrek a day to live like a real ogre again in exchange for a day from his childhood he wouldn't remember being erased. Shrek agrees and signs the contract, and abruptly lands in a world where he is still feared by villagers. He enjoys causing mischief until he finds wanted posters for the ogress Fiona and his home deserted. He is suddenly captured by witches and taken to Rumpelstiltskin, who is now the king of Far Far Away, which has become derelict and uses ogres and even some of Shrek's friends for slave labor.

Shrek realizes that the day Rumpelstiltskin erased was the day he was born, meaning he never existed in this world before and is unrecognized by everyone he knows. Furthermore, when the day ends, Shrek will fade from existence. Shrek escapes Rumpelstiltskin's castle with the enslaved Donkey (Eddie Murphy). Initially terrified of Shrek, Donkey decides to trust him after seeing Shrek cry over his lost past, something he had never seen an ogre do before. After Shrek explains the situation, Donkey helps him find a loophole: the contract will be rendered null and void if Shrek and Fiona share true love's kiss before the day ends. Shrek and Donkey suddenly encounter a band of ogres who have formed a resistance against Rumpelstiltskin. These ogres are led by Fiona, who is still cursed after escaping from the tower where she was held captive, and additionally keeps the retired and overweight Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) as a pet.

Shrek does everything he can to gain Fiona's love, but she is too busy preparing an ambush on Rumpelstiltskin during his nightly ogre hunt. However, the ogres are caught in a trap instead and captured. Shrek insists Fiona kiss him, saying it will fix everything, but because Fiona doesn't love him, it is ineffective. Upon hearing that Rumpelstiltskin is offering anything desired by the one who captures Shrek with no strings attached, Shrek turns himself in exchange for all ogres being released, but Fiona remains in custody because she is only an ogre by night due to her curse (i.e., not "all ogre"). Shrek and Fiona are set to be fed to Dragon, but Donkey, Puss and the ogres raid Rumpelstiltskin's castle, allowing Shrek and Fiona to subdue both Dragon and Rumpelstiltskin.

As the sun begins to rise, Shrek begins to fade from existence, but Fiona, having fallen in love with him all over again, kisses him just before he disappears completely, which nullifies the contract and restores Shrek to his world just before he originally lashed out at everyone. Shrek embraces his friends and family with newfound appreciation for everything he has, truly living happily forever after.