A morally and aesthetically abhorrent form of child abuse

Rating: 1/10 (29 May 2008)

The whole Shrek franchise is thoroughly abhorrent, both morally and aesthetically.
It tries to have things two mutually inconsistent ways: to create a fairytale scenario while parodying and guying the whole fairytale genre (thus creating the kind of brats who are cynical before they have had the opportunity to be innocent). It is also coarse and ugly (with the post-Punk relish in such wilful ugliness).
The Disney studio produced sugar-coated travesties of the central-European tradition of story-telling, but these were at least often accompanied by musical scores of some attractiveness (and musical literacy); Shrek is happy to recycle substandard versions of middle-of-the-road rock and soul staples.
To subject your children to this trash is child abuse; to subject yourself to it....