Shrek


Starring: Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow
Directed by: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Rating: PG
Genre: Animated, Comedy
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 5

Summary:Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) evicts all the fairy tale creatures and places them away in a swamp. That swamp, however, is home to a misunderstood ogre named Shrek (Mike Meyers). Shrek is none too pleased about his swamp being invaded, so he reluctantly teams with a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy) and presses Farquaad to allow the fairy tale creatures to leave the swamp. He agrees, but only after Shrek rescues the beautiful princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon-guarded castle. What starts out as a simple enough quest soon becomes much more complicated and Shrek begins to discover there is more than just living in solitude.

Review:

Tim: From the opening scene (beautifully accompanied by Smashmouth's "All Star") you know that this film is quite unlike any animated film you've seen yet. It is much more clever, edgy, and fun than the "classic" tales rolled out every few years by companies like Disney.

Shrek succeeds for many reasons, but perhaps most important is the superb voice talents behind the characters. Eddie Murphy shines brightest as Donkey. He is just hilarious. Mike Meyers's accent for Shrek isn't too spectacular, but it works enough for the film and the character to be likeable. Diaz is perhaps weakest, as any female lead could have done the same job she did. John Lithgow is perfectly evil for his role.

Shrek partially works so well because the film is so intelligent. There are two kinds of humor- gross-out humor and intelligent humor. Shrek is brilliant because it combines both types, showing that you can have intelligent gross-out humor.

I want to mention the Gingerbread Man scene. This is one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen on film. From the "Do you know the Muffin Man?" dialogue to the "Eat me!" outburst, the scene is an instant classic. That last line reminds me that the producers of the film truly earned its "PG" rating. The humor is definitely adult-focused, but PG enough that you won't have to worry about shielding kids from any of it.

This film was so good that it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. That is pretty impressive. Shrek is an original, quirky, and fun tale. In the true marking of genius filmmaking, it gets better every time you see it. Kids will love it, but for some reason, I think adults may love it even more. This is truly a tremendous movie. Oh, and it has a great soundtrack as well.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Shrek 2, The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, Daddy Day Care, Dr. Doolittle, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles