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Shrek Customer Reviews (82 - 84 of 105 Reviews)

Wonderfully funny modern-day fairytale
Although marketed as a kids' movie, SHREK is one of those films with layers. (Much like an onion, or an ogre...) Our antihero is a reclusive green scary ogre (Shrek, voiced by the excellent Mike Myers) who lives in a swamp. His sidekick, an enthusiastic talking donkey (Eddie Murphy) who has decided that Shrek is his best friend. Shrek, unused to people trying to befriend him instead of running away in terror, reluctantly lets Donkey stay with him. When his swamp is invaded by an assortment of fairy-tale creatures, a deeply annoyed Shrek is determined to talk to Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), who has evicted these creatures from Duloc. Unfortunately, the only person who's willing to accompany him on this journey is the ever-eager Donkey, and so they set off, Shrek regretting this decision every time Donkey opens his mouth. ("The trick is getting him to shut up," he laments.)

On arriving in Duloc, Shrek finds himself caught in the middle of a competition of knights to see which one will earn the "right" to rescue a sleeping Princess Fiona from a castle. ("Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," the vertically-challenged Lord Farquaad, who wishes to marry her, tells them.) He ends up being chosen to go on this mission, and in return, he will get his swamp back.

In one of the "awww!" moments of the movie, Shrek manoeuvres Donkey across the rickety bridge to the castle by shaking it until Donkey makes his own way over, rather than turn back. It's a perfect example of how fond Shrek has become of his friend, although he would never admit it. On finding the princess, he unceremoniously drags her out of there. Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) is not impressed. She was expecting a more romantic rescue, and is disappointed that the helmeted Shrek won't even recite an epic poem or a sonnet for her. ("A limerick?" she suggests in desperation.)

"You didn't slay the dragon??" she asks in horror as the fire-breathing monster comes after her and Shrek. As it turns out, though, the dragon is female, lonely and looking for love - which she finds in the form of Donkey. He isn't too pleased about this. "I'm an asthmatic!" he pleads.

As the three journey back to Duloc, Fiona grows past her initial horror at Shrek's appearance, while her lack of helplessness is shown as she successfully fights off an attacker. The Merry Men show up, of course, and do a bit of Riverdance. Shrek and Fiona blow up reptiles and hand them to one another, walking along romantically with their animal balloons. Donkey and Shrek's late-night conversations point out Shrek's hidden loneliness and isolation. "They judge me before they even know me," he says sadly. And how could a beautiful princess like Fiona ever love such a hideous beast as him?

But the beauty of this film is that these misfits - the ugly ogre, the lonely dragon, the talking donkey, the cursed princess - suit each other perfectly. It plays with the stereotypical fairy tale characters (lord, ogre, princess) and turns them on their head, while giving us a happy ending that tells us that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, and that love and friendship are wonderful things to have. So the moral of the story is . . . ogres are really lovely people, talking donkeys are fun to have around, and if you're an evil diminutive ruler of a kingdom, you might just get eaten by a dragon.

Touching Love Story - Similar to "Bauty & The Beast"
This state-of-the-art animated fantasy film is great family entertainment. The story is quite similar to "Beauty And The Beast", with a beautiful "fairy tale ending". At the very end of the DVD there is a bonus of about 5 minutes of "Kareoke" fun, featuring samplings of many well known Rock Songs, Oldies, even Motown Classics. I showed the DVD to my class of 4th-graders, who absolutely loved it!

My only complaint is the fact that many jokes were included that were either "over kids heads" or just not quite rated G. Even Eddie Murphy could tone it down for a kids film. The constant blah blah from the donkey character becomes tiresome quickly. Hold the babble water! Aside from these minor blemishes I give "Shrek" 2 thumbs up!****

AT ITS BEST!!!
Poor Shrek... all he wants is to be left alone, sadly for shrek the evil king has other ideas. With an abhorrence for any fairy tale creature the evil king has banished them all to another region... this region just happens to be Shrek's backyard. On a mission to clear his swamp of the excess baggage Shrek encounters a talking donkey (masterfully played by Eddie Murphy) an over romantic princess (played well by Cameron Diaz, even if her accent does tend to dissapear and reappear at the strangest moments) and a huge manage of other delightful characters.
This movie is fabulous. The computer graphics are so real that they jump off the screen. The characters emotions, expressions and mannerisms are so real that you can't help but get involved and find them endearing and loveable. The cast it perfect, from Mike Myers to John Lithgow and the script is genius. This is a movie that you and your children will LOVE, your children will love the fairy tale characters and the animations and any adult will find the "grown up" humor to be hilarious. My only warning is that this isn't a movie (even though animated) for small children, they just won't get it. The dialogue is very adult and sometimes raunchy and even the animation won't make the story clear for small children. This movie had my family and I in stitches I guarantee it'll do the same for you, it is a total keeper and a great film for your collection.

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