Like Toy Story and Chicken Run before it, Shrek is truly what a family film was meant to be -- a vehicle that has something for everyone.
Even teens dumbed down by slasher flicks and Beverly Hills 90210 will have a hard time not being charmed away from their PlayStations by this computer-animated gem.
Like a Bugs Bunny cartoon of yore or Simpsons episode of today, Shrek's humour works on multiple levels, from the simplistic slapstick of an over-exerted songbird exploding to Dreamworks' nudge-nudge-wink-wink shot at their competitors over at Disney.
Short on plot but great on looks, Shrek is the tale of a green, oafish, burping-and-farting ogre (Mike Myers) whose lonely-yet-stable life is upset when fairy tale characters from throughout the land begin showing up on his doorstep.
Driven out of their homes by the vertically challenged Prince Farquaad (John Lithgow), the characters -- basically all Disney castoffs -- convince Shrek to beseech the prince on their behalf so they can end their refugee status.
Accompanied by a wise-cracking donkey voiced by Eddie Murphy, Shrek becomes an unlikely hero when the prince agrees to his demands if he can rescue the Ugly Princess (Cameron Diaz) from a tower prison guarded by a dragon.
The tale and it's eventual outcome are all too predictable, but the journey is still a lot of fun. For Shrek is as irreverent in its treatment of Disney's take on life as it is on the fairy-tale genre in general
The majority of the laughs come from Murphy's hyperkinetic interaction with Shrek, who despite being voiced by Myers (in a Scottish brogue for some reason), is basically a straightman.
Young and older alike will both revel in the heavy dosage of pop culture references, from the Magic Mirror resorting to a Dating Game format to help the prince choose a new bride to the princess laying a Matrix-like beating on Robin Hood and his way-too-merry men.
A few more guffaws would have been appreciated and Farquaad, unfortunately, is relegated to a one-dimensional character in a movie that pushes the envelope when it comes to computer-generated dimensions.
Lithgow has proven from 3rd Rock From the Sun his comic brilliance, but here he is given neither the dialogue nor character development necessary to let his talents show true. The mere ripping off of the Gingerbread Man's appendage does not a true villain make.
It's a shortcoming only a sequel can address, and given the fact this film should go through the stratosphere at the box-office, no doubt plans are already underway to give old Farquaad another shot.
(More on: Shrek).
(This film is rated F)
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