Over-rated but worth catching, Spoiler!

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2002)

Spoiler lies within!!!: Shrek follows the story of an ogre who goes on a mission to rescue a princess from a dragon for the evil Lord Farquaad so that he will move all the fairy tale creatures from Shrek's swamp. The film IS funny at parts, Eddie murphy's Donkey being the main source of the humour as well as the spins on traditional fairy tales. However I feel that it was not as clever as the makers thought, with the story ultimately conforming to the fairy tales it ridicules. Despite a great performance from John Lithgow, Lord Farquaad is a two dimensional villain and our encouragement to laugh at his looks is at odds with the films message that it's what is on the inside that counts. Mike Myers is unusually restrained and has done better and funnier Scottish accents in both "Austin Powers 2" and "So I Married An Axe Murderer". I was also troubled by the ending in which Princess Fiona turns into an ogre and her and Shrek marry. I accept that this is a spin on Beauty and the Beast, but it the same message i.e. it being fine for them to be together, because they are both pretty, except with the word ugly replacing pretty.
However its still a funny film and I am concerntrating on the flaws since I heard only positive before i saw the film.