William
Steig's delightfully fractured fairy tale
is the right stuff for this
computer-animated adaptation full of verve
and wit. Our title character (voiced by
Mike Myers) is an agreeable enough ogre
who wants to live his days in peace.
This
summer's blockbuster hit is peppered with
Jewish messages, thanks in part to one
scriptwriter and his own wild Jewish saga.
Read more
When the
diminutive Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow)
evicts local fairy-tale creatures
(including the now-famous Seven Dwarfs,
Pinocchio, and the Gingerbread Man), they
settle in the ogre's swamp and Shrek wants
answers from Farquaad. A quest of sorts
starts for Shrek and his new pal, a
talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), where
battles have to be won and a princess
(Cameron Diaz) must be rescued from a
dragon lair in a thrilling action
sequence. The story is stronger than most
animated fare, but it's the humor that
makes Shrek a winner. The PG rating is
stretched when Murphy and Myers hit their
strides. The mild potty humor is fun
enough for 10-year-olds but will never
embarrass their parents. Shrek is never as
warm and inspired as the Toy Story films,
but the realistic computer animation and a
rollicking soundtrack keep the
entertainment in fine form. Produced by
DreamWorks, the film also takes several
delicious stabs at its crosstown rival,
Disney. --Doug Thomas
From The New Yorker
The Shrek of
the title is a bile-green ogre with
disgusting personal habits and, this being
an animated feature, an essential
sweetness of nature. On the orders of a
wicked lord, he rescues a princess from a
dragon, only to screw up the plans by
falling in love with her. The new
DreamWorks production is overtly snook-cocking,
turning every available fairy tale on its
head: the princess has a short temper and
karate skills, the dragon has the hots for
a donkey, and the lord's castle is as
tacky as a theme park. On the other hand,
the film itself is hardly rough and real;
however cunning the rendering of surfaces,
there's still something flat and charmless
in the digital look, and most of the
pleasure rises not from the main romance
but from the quick, incidental gags. In
particular, look out for the Three Little
Breakdancing Pigs. With voices by Mike
Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and
John Lithgow. -Anthony Lane
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Comments:
It's A
GREAT Movie, June 5, 2007 By Stephen B.
O'Blenis (Nova Scotia, Canada)
The first time I saw "Shrek" I enjoyed
it, thought it had some neat characters
and really good animation. But that was
about it; I wasn't bowled right over and
didn't see how it ranked up there with
other animated movies from the early
2000s like "Spirited Away" and "Lilo &
Stitch". But quite a while later they
brought out "Shrek 2", and more recently
the third chapter, and they both looked
good, and I decided that instead of
going right into the newer ones, I'd go
back. Rent the first one over again and
see if there was something I missed -
even if there wasn't, it was pretty good
the first time and would probably be a
good refresher for the next ones.
I don't know if the stars were way out
of alignment that first time, or if I
just wasn't in the proper frame of mind;
but the most recent time around I
enjoyed "Shrek" ten times as much. So I
stand corrected, it does belong up there
in the same breath with "Lilo & Stitch"
and "Spirited Away" and so on.
In a fabulous kingdom, a monarch named
Lord Farquand has banned all 'fairy tale
creatures', and the elves, blind mice (3
of 'em), little pigs (3 again), and so
on seek refuge anywhere they can, ending
up en masse in the swamp around Shrek's
wooden hovel, where Farquand's soldiers
fear to tread. Shrek is a big, green,
powerful and occasionally bumbling ogre
who isn't 'trying to be cranky while
hiding his tenderness underneath' - he's
sumltaneously a cranky lummox and a
sweet-minded, noble creature of great
heart (although that latter part is kind
of a light hidden under a barrel for the
first half of the movie). So as not to
give the whole story away, I'll skip to
the jist - in order to force Farquand to
lift his ban on the fairy tale creatures
(thus enabling them to leave his home
and leave Shrek in peace and solitude),
Shrek agrees to embark on a journey
(which a talking donkey named,
appropriately enough, Donkey,
accompanies him on) to rescue a sleeping
princess from a castle guarded by a
fierce dragon.
The three main players of the show -
Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona - are
brilliant characters who play great off
of one another. The supporting cast is
loaded with colorful individuals (the
Gingerbread Man is a great
show-stealer), and the movie is full of
humorous fantasy action and some great,
often wry, wit. If one wanted to
quibble, I still think it could have
done without as much of an emphasis on
flatulence-humor, but when it's got as
much prime comedy and as much heart as "Shrek"
does, who wants to quibble? It's got
everything you want in an All Ages
movie, full of charm, adventure, humor,
love and fantastic visuals, and textured
- like some of the old bugs Bunny
cartoons - with extra, subtly hidden,
little jokes and moments that older
viewers will appreciate but won't elicit
too many awkward-to-answer questions
from three year-old viewers. And as a
last note, don't forget to stay past the
end credits for some final treats. It's
priceless.
![[shrek]](jewish-film-images/B00003CXXI.jpg)
Shrek
