Shrek!

My review from NTS:

SUMMARY

An ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) finds his home turned into a refuge for evicted fairy-tale characters overnight. Upon confronting Farquaad (John Lithgow), the diminuitive lord of the land, Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon in exchange for his land, accompanied by a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy).


RECOMMENDED FOR:

Everyone. And while you're at it, bring your date, bring your parents, bring your kids, bring your donkey - whatever applies to you.


REVIEW

There is NO EXCUSE for not seeing Shrek.

At one stage in the film, Shrek describes himself as an onion, citing that an onion has layers. The Donkey responds by pointing out that cakes and parfaits also have layers, and everyone likes them. Shrek the film is similarly layered, yet all the layers are parfaits. When it tries to be funny, it is hilarious. When it tries to be serious, it is bittersweetly touching. Shrek is beautiful on every level inside and out. It is visually spectacular, yet beneath the visuals lies a plethora of substance and depth that will go down in history.

The visual poignancy of this film cannot be overstated. The settings are vivid and beautiful. The detail of the shading and texturing is a powerful demonstration of how much computer animation has advanced in the past few years. The character modeling and animation is spectacular beyond comparison. Say hello to the most emotional and lush portrayals of humans yet - like the fat and stumpy Al in Toy Story 2, all the human characters seem almost too real to be real, yet characters such as Farquaad are successfully cartoonish caricatures at the same time.

Of course, a classic is not spawned of visuals alone. Spectacular visuals amount to nothing if they are not supported by the substance underneath. ( Dinosaur, anyone?) Shrek's true excellence lies in the screenplay. Every mood that is meant to be portrayed comes across as intended by the witty and flowing dialogue, and the visuals only serve to amplify that wit a thousand times.

The spot-on voice acting serves to round out the qualities of the film. Each of the characters, however minor, has character; the voice acting deserves enormous credit for taking the brilliant screenplay and bringing the characters alive. Especially notable is Eddie Murphy as the Donkey; a character who is this film's Jar Jar Binks, only he is able to deliver striking seriousness where it counts. Sure, the Donkey intended to be a comical character who is talkative and annoying - but he is appropriately written and voiced to be annoying to Shrek, and not to the audience.

The underlying musical score is also brilliant. The haunting, thematic orchestral theme is used in all the right moments to evoke emotion. Contemporary popular music is used unintrusively, and does not seem overly out of place due to the satirical and modern undertones of the film - though admittedly, this is the one and only disputable element here, and one that is justified by the fact that pop-culture references are already an integral part of the final product with or without the music.

Bottom line: in watching Shrek, all these elements compel you to care. You are compelled to care about the characters, and you are compelled to care about the plot. Everyone knows that such a film has a happy ending - yet the road there is fresh and exciting all the same.

Shrek is brilliant as a dashing adventure, a romantic comedy, a satire of fairy tales, and a fairy tale in its own right. It combines the themes of Beauty and the Beast, the atmosphere of The Princess Bride and the "visual wit" of Toy Story 2 to create a final product that goes beyond its foundations. In summary, it would not be a far cry to say that the literally fantastic Shrek is among the greatest animated features in the history of the motion picture.