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Shrek Customer Reviews (43 - 45 of 105 Reviews)

You may have seen a housefly, maybe even a super fly...
...but I bet you've never seen a donkey fly

Shrek is a big green ogre who lives alone in a swamp in the middle of the woods. He is feared by most of the local inhabitants of the land of Duloc. When Lord Farquaad, the ruler of Duloc, exiles all the fairy-tale beings into Shrek's swamp, Shrek looses his peaceful, quite life style. Accompanied by his new friend/companion Donkey, Shrek sets off to find Lord Farquaad and convince him to allow the fairy-tale creatures back to their origins, and out of his swamp. After intense persuasion, Lord Farquaad accepts, under one specific condition: Shrek must rescue princess Fiona in order for her to become Farquaad's bride. Therefore, Shrek embarks on this quest, along with his newfound donkey friend, to rescue the princes and regain his land.

Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2 and the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and Vicky Jenson (Shark Tale) direct Shrek. They did a marvelous job of utilizing each character. When you have a cast that includes Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow I can imagin it must have been a very situation in utilized their characters correctly, especially since they are not all present when the lines are being recorded. However, the lines are delivered to perfection, the emotions for each animated scene was evident, and the film is magnificent because of it.

The films Shrek is carried by the on screen chemistry between Shrek and Donkey. Their interactions are marvelous and the on screen chemistry is delivered to perfection. This aspect of the films is amazing. It would seem Murphy and Myers were standing side-by-side reading lines to each other, but they were not. This fact alone makes it amazing at how well the chemistry appears on the screen; brilliant to be honest.

Overall, Shrek is a very, very good movie. I will even deliver the classic cliché, fun for all ages, as much (maybe even the majority) of the content is geared towards adults despite the movie being a cartoon. If you liked this film, you should like Shrek 2, if you did not like Shrek, you may still like Shrek 2. Shrek has a far superior story then the sequel in my opinion, but the characters are a blast to view in both films. Shrek is definitely a movie you can feel safe buying before ever watching; it is definitely a cartoon classic, and a must have in your DVD collection.

Grade: A+


Even better on a great DVD package!
To me, it seems that people are overstating how much tweaking Disney's taking in "Shrek." Unless I missed something, fairy tales didn't begin with the House That Walt Built, and that's what "Shrek" spends most of its time chipping away at. (Of course, there's also a very funny riff on Disneyland when Shrek arrives to see Lord Farquar, but that's really it for pure Disney-bashing.)

Adults who might think that they've seen all the funny fairy tales they can handle should think again: While there's enough fart jokes, talking animals and slapstick to keep the kids entertained, "Shrek" is an adult movie, with low key racy jokes (kids who even notice the "big castle compensating for Lord Farquar's deficiencies" gag will likely assume it's talking about his height, or lack thereof), some very (post-)modern looks at fairy tales (Cinderella's described as being emotionally abused ... well, that sounds about right) and the nerve to say that the princess/Prince Charming fantasy so many fairy tales were built around is garbage.

Sure, anyone who's ever seen a major motion picture can guess that it ends up with "They All Lived Happily Ever After," but any movie that starts off with an ogre using a book of classic fairy tales as toilet paper is going to get there in its own backhanded style. Surprisingly, "Shrek" steers around the pitfalls and never becomes cloying or trite or gives up on its own cockeyed realist view of fairy tales and destructive fantasies (as opposed to the perfectly fine and rather sweet, in their own dim way, fairy tale creatures endangered by the evil pro-rationality and pro-order lord).

While it's the writing that really makes "Shrek" work, John Lithgow and Eddie Murphy fling themselves into their roles, making what could have been fairly generic animated characters into memorable performances. Murphy in particular seems freed to do his best work when he's hidden from view as in "Mulan," and Lithgow, whom many now only know through his goofy "Third Rock from the Sun" role, gets to stretch out his more threatening riffs, as he used to prior to landing on the sitcom.

"Shrek" is that rarest of animated movies: One that's genuinely fun for the whole family. See it with or without kids, but see it.

All of this is further enhanced by a DVD package that, if not stuffed with extras, has all high quality additions actually worth checking out.

Highly recommended for kids from 8-80.

Laughable, fairy tale for all ages.
SHREK is a hilarious comedy that will win over audiences of children and adults alike. Shrek is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cozy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and fends off the occasional party of torch-wielding villagers with ease. But when the power-hungry Lord Farquaad turns Shrek's swamp into a relocation camp for dozens of banished fairy-tale characters Shrek's peace and solitude is disrupted especially by the talkative Donkey. Shrek makes his way to Farquaad's realm of Duloc, where the Lord promises makes Shrek and offer: He will rid Shrek's land of the unwanted visitors if Shrek will go on a simple quest to free Princess Fiona from her remote, dragon-guarded castle and convince her to marry Farquaad. On their quest, Shrek and Donkey run into a number of bizarre situations, and Shrek finds himself realizing that he isn't quite the fearsome monster he has always made himself out to be.
The Donkey's least likely love the Dragon keeps you smiling. The Princess with her dark secret keeps you crossing your fingers that all will go well. Shrek himself mellowing to the warmth of love. Interesting for the romantic at heart and kids still into fairy tales.

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