Shrek

Shrek is a movie like no other. It stands alone in its appeal to people of all ages and in its presentation of comedy, romance, and creative story line. Shrek is a delightful comedy about a crude ogre, an energetic princess, a witty donkey and an uptight ruler. The movie has a brilliant story line, following the path of an initially moody ogre as he discovers friendship and love all in the face of hysterical comedy. The story line is layered for different levels of understanding; it is an enjoyable film for people of all ages. One clever tool Shrek uses to humor the audience is its spoof on other fairy tales. In one scene, Princess Fiona's singing causes a bluebird to explode. And in another scene, the Magic Mirror's description of Snow White is "She may live with seven men, but don't be fooled, she's not easy." While these subtle comedic lines amuse adults, it is the simple humor, such as the movie opening with the ogre sitting in a swamp "farting," that amuses children. The amazing cast of Shrek, including Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers does a great job of living up to their comedic expectations. Shrek has something for everyone; it is a great animated tale that is wonderful for adults and children alike.

This movie really confronts the problems with society, such as the opioid crisis, domestic abuse, and donkey mistreatment head-on. It was a great way to talk about these issues with my teenage son.

9 OUT OF 10!!!! We went to catch the matinee preview of "Shrek". We were still giggling by the time we got home afterwards. Two hours later, we dragged a friend out and went back for the evening show. Some of the shock value was lost, but we caught a few of the background sight gags we missed the first time, and anticipation of some of the other scenes had us in tears before they even happened. Interesting to see the different audience reactions of different age groups, too. This is a *very* funny movie, but it should be noted that most of the kiddy humour is on the burp/fart and yucky dining habits level - Shrek is rather closely related to Raymond Briggs' Fungus the Bogeyman without the orange mohawk. The dialogue and main action quips are mainly aimed at adults and sophisticated kids. One little voice in the afternoon audience piping up "WHAT's he compensating for?" cracked me up...

Be warned that this movie is a non-stop send-up of all things Disney. If predictability and saccharine is your cup of tea, you may not like it. On the other hand, if you are cynical about theme parks and like the idea of fairytale classics getting the Monty Python treatment, you'll love it. Every time a scene looks familiar, it means it is about to go pear-shaped. And it's not just old classics that get the treatment. I spotted (mis)quotes from films that are just being released, both Disney and non-Disney. You name it, it gets an affectionate pie in the face at some point in "Shrek".

As a fairytale, however offbeat, "Shrek" is tighter plotted and better characterised than most Hollywood dross.The parodic twists, a love story subplot that owes more to Shakespeare's comedies than fairytale formula, and the "ugly is the new beautiful" Message more than make up for the derivativeness due to extensive quotation.

As for the acting, confinement to voice-overs keeps the egos of Myers and Murphy in check, and they do a fantastic job as the big fat green smelly recluse and the obnoxiously manic donkey respectively. Diaz is great as a feisty princess who reminds me of Lloyd Alexander's Eilonwy crossed with Lara Croft. Lithgow's Farquaad is a wonderful Bad Guy, modelled on Olivier's Richard III apart from his Little Problem being different. And the Fairytale Creatures...excellent, all of them. The graphics, of course, are state of the art for at least another 2 weeks. We're talking freckles, skin pores and stubble, pupil dilation, and amazing light-and-shade. They had to tone down the realism of the humanoids to stop them looking creepily android-like.

Highly recommended, except for overly precious schmalz addicts.

Shrek is a green ogre who lives in a swamp, but his king sends him on a mission which he must complete to get his own land back.

You only have to watch ten minutes of this film to realise that this is going to be a classic. Eddie Murphy being employed as a wisecracking donkey was a casting dream and plays well against the more plain Shrek, voiced by Mike Myers.

Ok the plot is old, new, borrowed and blue (all recaps and references to fairy tales), but I don't care. It is all so much good fun and better than that, the kind of thing that can be enjoyed by young and old, male or female. It is really a dream of movie and some brilliant pop tunes are employed that really work fantastically against the images. Real tear-to-the-eye stuff.

A real bliss-out of a movie and all parties should be congratulated for making it so great. A real DVD buyer, because it can be enjoyed over and over again. Bring on the follow up, I can't wait.

For younger viewers, they might not understand the impact of "Shrek" on the film industry and CGI movies. However, being an older guy, I remember how groundbreaking and amazing the computer animation was when the film debuted. It was head and shoulders better than the few CGI movies that had come out in the previous decade...and it finally gave Pixar a serious run for the money. In addition, the plot was very adult...and the film's appeal was much greater than a typical CGI story. Great animation, great story telling and great voice acting, while the movie isn't quite impressive to see today, it still holds up very well and is well worth your time.

I could easily say more but this film has over a thousand reviews....so I'll just end it here!