Shrek is nigh-on perfect for its
genre, a CGI 3D cartoon movie. Shrek (Mike Myers)
is a lonely ogre. He scoffs eyeballs and slimes;
wallows and gargles in gloppy mud; pulls wax
from his trumpet ears for candles and fairytale
books are his toilet paper. He takes his ostracism
by the villagers with good humour, though with
a heavy heart. One day, Shrek's habit for solitude
is interrupted by an astonishing menagerie of
fairytale characters. Reluctant and desperate,
he does a deal with the excellent local baddie
Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). In exchange for
evicting the fairytale nuisance from his swamp
he quests to rescue a princess from a dragon-guarded
tower. The Lord's motive for coveting the princess
are less than noble: he craves
nobility.
The graphics and animation in
Shrek
are amazing. They are warmer and more organic
than the hard look of the excellent Pixar/Disney
Toy Story / Bugs Life movies. I was also glad
to see
Shrek didn't suffer from
the all-Yankie feel of Pixar either. Although
stylised, the detail and dynamics of the graphics
were astonishing.
Shrek has moments
where it was almost like watching reality, a
strange feeling. The voice acting was spot on
too, Myers in particular was perfect.
Insignificant niggles: the
Jar Jar Binks
(read minor blemish from
Star
Wars: Phantom Menace) of this movie is the
donkey (Eddie Murphy) a beast that raps away
incessantly. Though the donkey wasn't emotionally
moving when the plot demanded it, he certainly
made up for it with great comic moments (especially
with the dragon) and, when all was said and
done, was a groovy little sidekick.
Shrek satirises fairy tales and
legends in a style that is definitely homage,
not slur. But some of the knowing self-reference
was irksome, and had the effect of alienating
me from the story. Shrek was best when playing
it straight.
The moral of the
Shrek was amusingly
two faced. The story empathises with the ugly
yet rips the piss out of short-arses. Talk about
giving to one unfortunate group with one hand
and taking away from an equally unfortunate
group with the other. But who cares about that?
Its serves the story and that's what matters!
And the story is just charming.
Shrek
drives so fast its 90 minutes are spent in no
time, and you yearn for just a bit more. And
I was moved by this movie, I really identified
with the ugly ogre I guess! Shrek was almost
as good as
The
Iron Giant.
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spoilers corner
Spoilers!!!!
Warning: this box contains a movie post-mortem analysis that freely gives away important plot twists and details. If you have not yet seen this movie and intend seeing it, avoid this spoilers box until afterwards. Bookmark the page, see the movie, see if you agree with my review then write an arsy comment saying I am talking total b*ll*cks :-)
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Shrek has many great moments.
The best laugh was when the princess sings
and the bird she was duetting with exploded.
Its eggs become breakfast. This kids in
the audience screamed laughing, it was
funny as hell.
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There are no more spoilers below this
point, except maybe in any user talkback
comments.
End of spoilers corner
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None. The ending was charming.
Add your comment to this page
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| From: |
Nottingham Lad | Subject: | 2001-08-22 10:19:10 |
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| From: |
hung-piece | Subject: | 2002-01-11 19:14:06 |
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| From: |
wajiraporn | Subject: | 2005-07-17 09:33:33 |
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