Shrek

animated fairy tale spoof

• Shrek. 2001
• Shrek 2. 2004
• Shrek the Third. 2007

Shrek the ugly, antisocial Ogre [Scottishly voiced by Mike Myers] is happy living by himself in his swamp, frightening away any visitors, until he rescues a non-stop talking donkey [Eddie Murphy] and then gets invaded by a host of displaced fairy tale characters, evicted by the evil Lord Farquaad [John Lithgow]. Shrek goes to protest this invasion, and ends up on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona [Cameron Diaz] from the dragon, so that Farquaard can marry her to become King. But Princess Fiona has a terrible secret...

This is just brilliant. The straightforward conventional fairytale plot is merely a framework on which to hang an endless sequence of devastatingly witty jokes, which take the mickey out of everything from fairytales, Disneyland and Disneyfication, martial arts action movies, even Mary Poppins! There are marvelous scenes of threatening the talking mirror, interrogating the gingerbread man, fighting Monsieur Hood, ... the list goes on. And the animation is superb, too.

There's probably just enough slapstick and toilet humour to entertain the kids -- but the adults will be roaring with laughter throughout.

Rating: 2

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 25 August 2001

Shrek and Princess Fiona, happily married, receive an invitation from her parents [John Cleese, Julie Andrews] to visit, for Shrek to receive her father the king's blessing. Shrek is highly dubious, visualising a pitchfork reception, but Fiona persuades him to go. Donkey invites himself along. The problem is, she was supposed to have married Prince Charming [Rupert Everett], and there are dastardly plans afoot, particularly involving Pusssss ... in Boots [Antonio Banderas], to make that the real Happy Ever After. Cue the Fairy Godmother [Jennifer Saunders] ...

More utterly brilliant spoofing, of fairy tales, of Hollywood, of Oscar ceremonies, of more modern films. The big jokes and the little jokes (watch for the pepper spray!) are wonderfully interwoven. The animation is ever better -- and they can do hair -- watch for the hair waving joke, twice!

Just sit back and laugh until your ribs ache. And make sure you stay until at least half-way through the credits (you'll know when) to get the final ending.

Rating: 2

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 10 July 2004

The king is ill, and Shrek has to stand in for him -- but an Ogre does not make a good king. So Shrek sets off to find the lost heir. Meanwhile, Prince Charming has a cunning plan to win the throne of Far Far Away...

All the gang is here: Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots, even the Gingerbreadman. And the new characters, especially the air-headed rescued princesses, add to the plot. It's clever, and it's funny -- but it's not as funny as the previous two, simply because of the lower density of jokes. It's underdeveloped: mainly surface level, with not enough "background detail" to flesh it out. And the moralising (Shrek becoming a father, the heir taking responsibility, etc) is laid on a bit thick. So, definitely fun, but we know how much better it could have been.

Rating: 3.5

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 4 January 2009