I find that children's movies are the hardest movies to review. To give you some background, I am 32 years old at the time of this writing and I have no children. This makes it difficult to see this movie through a child's eyes. So, be warned, my review is from the perspective of an adult and is thusly slanted. This review is not interested in whether or not children will like this movie, as I have no way of knowing whether they will or not. I can only recommend whether or not adults might like it. With that in mind, read on.
Shrek, an animated movie, tells the story of an ogre voiced by Mike Myers, who finds his home and his peaceful life in the swamp, disrupted by the arrival of cartloads of fairytale characters who have been deported by the diminutive Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) for reasons that are never really disclosed. Wanting the return of his peace and quiet, Shrek the Ogre goes to see Lord Farquaad to negotiate. Farquaad, who is in search of a princess to marry so that he may become king, tells Shrek that if the ogre can bring him a bride, he will see that the fairy tale characters will be removed. Willing to do anything to get the Three Blind Mice out of his house and the Sleeping Snow White (complete with glass coffin) off his dining table, Shrek agrees. Accompanied by a talkative donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek sets off to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and get his home back.
Now, if that premise sounds more like the Fractured Fairy Tales from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon, than your typical Disney story, you're right. However, don't expect the verbal punnery and sly humor of those old classics, instead, Shrek relies more on farts, and ear wax jokes, than it does on witty dialogue. Although it does have its moments. The broken gingerbread man's cry of 'Eat Me!', when he is tortured by Lord Farquaad, I found quite amusing. Still as far as the humor in this movie goes, I would classify it more as cute than gut-bustingly funny.
What saves this movie are the performances by the actors, particularly, Murphy and Myers. Murphy, as the fast-talking donkey, takes, what in the hands of a less talented performer, could have been an annoying character, and makes him endearing. While all his jokes aren't funny, he keeps them coming so fast, that enough of them hit the target to make you overlook the ones that fall flat. Myers, on the other hand, seems to be doing a more mild-mannered version of his Fat Bastard character from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. And while he doesn't have the funniest lines, he does make the repulsive ogre, a likable, and cheery one. The other two leads, Diaz and Lithgow, while adequate, do little to stand out.
Humor and plot aside, visually this movie is stunning. Computer generated cartoons have been getting more sophisticated since they became popular with Pixar's Toy Story, although they haven't necessarily gotten funnier. Shrek certainly contains some amazing moments. The dragon chase out of the tower is eye-popping and so are many of the other moments. The only weak points in the animation are the humans, the villagers at the beginning in particular. The subtleties of the human face still seem beyond computer generated graphics, although obviously a lot more time was spent on Princess Fiona, yet even she doesn't look as good as either Shrek or the Donkey.
