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Shrek 2001 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
PG, 87 min. (mild language, some crude humor) |
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Starring: Voices: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow
Producers: Aron Warner, John H. Williams
Screenplay: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Distributor: Dreamworks SKG
Released: 5.18.01 (Wide) |
Rating:
  (out of ) |
Although, admittedly, I'm not a big fan of animated features, recent movies such as Toy Story, Dinosaur, and now Shrek are
making me rethink the genre altogether. Not only has the animation improved dramatically, but also the storylines accompanying
it has changed the basic fairy tales you learned when you were a child into entertaining, witty, and clever storytelling. It is
not a stretch to say that Shrek is on par with the best animated features in the last decade. Now if only some of these clever
stories could make their way to mainstream films...oh well.
The story is pretty straightforward. An ogre named Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) lives an isolated life in a swamp, with the
occasional knight testing his bravehood against him. He is a nice ogre, although he chases off people to ensure his privacy,
and doesn't want his routine life disturbed. Of course, that changes when he runs into Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy), who
is fleeing from soldiers who are relocating fairy tale characters to Shrek's swamp. Because of this, Shrek is determined to
seek out the perpetuator of this decision, Lord Farquaad (voice of John Lithgow), and force him to change his plan. He makes
a deal with Farquaad (since he is outnumbered at his castle) - he will rescue a princess, Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz), from
a castle guarded by a dragon and bring her back to Farquaad to marry him, and Farquaad will move the fairy tale characters
out of his swamp. Seems routine enough (although the fire-breathing dragon is a problem) except for the unforeseen relationship
that will develop between Shrek and Fiona.
The strength of the film is the dialogue - witty and humorous, especially between Donkey and Shrek, who also develop a
friendship through their journey together. Many jokes are not meant for children, but it definitely involves the adults in a story that
would otherwise be only for their kids. In fact, a few of the jokes may have been a little over-the-top, but at least the attempt
was made to avoid boredom. The conversations between Shrek and Fiona are fun also, with Diaz's voice the perfect complement
to Myers' Scottish accent (seemingly reprised from his Austin Powers' character, Fat Bastard). I'm still amazed at Eddie Murphy's
transformation from the gutter-humored jerks he used to play to the family-oriented film characters he plays now (I wonder if money had something to
do with it). His rendition of Donkey is nothing short of brilliant - his give and take with Myers is very entertaining, and I'm sure
it was an interesting studio voice-over session.
The animation is, well, impressive. I can't recall being this impressed looking at an animated picture - the details on just about
everything is the best I've seen. Animation isn't quite life-like yet, but it's very close. The close attention to detail is
evidenced in several scenes - one in which you can actually see Donkey's individual hairs moving in different directions.
It seems the bar continues to be raised by subsequent animated films, so much so that you wonder how much farther the
studios will go before shooting many films in animation entirely. Final Fantasy, which comes out later this summer, has
reportedly pushed the envelope to the edge. I think this can be an exciting genre, although I'm not sure it's for everyone (people
like seeing real persons on the screen). But Shrek is squarely intended for the animation genre, and an impressive entry it
is - the popularity of this film should inspire some sequels I'm sure. This is one of the best films of the year.
© 2001 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
| Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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