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.

AT LAST A MOVIE IRON AND I AGREE UPON!!!!!!!

Hobbit's review from www.filmhobbit.com


An ogre, a donkey, and a princess walk into a bar…. Whoops sorry, its not a bad joke, its DreamWorks’s new toure de force, Shrek!, and filmmaking (I hope) will never be the same.

Shrek! stars Fat Bastard, er I mean Mike Meyers as the voice of Shrek, an ungainly Ogre with a serious fear of crowds. When the diminutive Lord Farquaad rounds up all the fairytale creatures in the kingdom and dumps them in Shrek’s swamp, this surely green Ogre is faced with a serious squatter problem, which can only be solved by a little bit of princess rescuing, heroic, un-ogre like behavior. And so, with the help of his new and somewhat annoying donkey pal, Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek sets off to clean out his swamp and ends up saving the world.

In a way Shrek! is almost an amalgam of cookie cutter fairytales thrown into a blender and twisted up and turned inside out, to create something totally and completely different. Yet at the same time, Shrek! also remains rife with elements borrowed from other less traditional fantasy films, softly resounding with themes and elements from classic films such as “The Princess Bride” and “The Never Ending Story.” But truthfully, this is more of a compliment than a criticism, for Shrek! is a beast all its own, cleverly written and practically oozing wit and cynicism while somehow at the same time remaining charming, laughable, and loveable.

DreamWorks has created something truly amazing here and this Hobbit knows that this little review can only begin to do it justice. But from stem to stern, Shrek! is a beautiful and lovingly crafted movie. From its lush, stunning, eye popping visuals; to its odd, strange, and heartwarming characters, Shrek! is guaranteed to leave its audiences cheering, laughing, and gasping for more.

It might be easy to dismiss Shrek! as just another kid’s movie, a good family jaunt. But this film has so much more to offer than just the same old family fair. The humor is adult, the characters mature and well rounded, but the film still manages to stay on a level that is almost irresistibly attractive to children yet at the same time perfect for adults. Sure, a big green farting monster and his talking donkey companion may SOUND like an idea that fell off the side of a McDonalds happy meal, but Shrek ain’t no Ronald McDonald.

Perhaps Shrek! sends a message to filmmakers out there, perhaps it says something about creativity and laughter, maybe, just maybe Shrek! is the future of movies. On the other hand it might just be a story about a stinky green giant. But for now, Shrek! is one of the best films of 2001.

"AT LAST A MOVIE IRON AND I AGREE UPON!!!!!!!"

Now, you all know it's really that good.

Iron, I don't know how much time you spend crusing movie sites, but have you ever visited the Cinemarti web alliance? Alliance of snooty film critics who are currently all sitting around trashing Shrek. So far, they are the only critics I've found who don't like it.

We should go over there and tell them what's what

Never heard of the site...

You are not missing much. I had had some silly idea about getting their help in promoting my site, but after their recent stance on some pretty good films, I don't think I'd want it anyway.

now ive got 2 see it...

check out my new site at www.expage.com/webwizard4444