Not as good as Pixar

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2001)

Ok, so Eddie Murphy was downright hilarious, but there was something about Mike Myers' not-quite-Scottish accent that just really bugged me - and normally, I love Mike Myers. I also thought that Cameron Diaz was kind of ho-hum.
/*** SPOILER ALERT ***/
But enough about the talent, what really bothered me was that the fairy-tale creature situation was a such a weak part of the plot. I mean, why did Farquaad need to round up *all* the fairy-tale creatures to find he mirror? Why was he interrogating the Gingerbread Man? Sure the scene was pretty funny, but why would the Gingerbread Man have some special knowledge of the Magic Mirror as opposed to, oh, I don't know, the Seven Dwarves or the Wicked Queen? I know, I know, these are pretty petty things to complain about in a film where the strength of the plot clearly was never intended to be one of the strong points, but for me, this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Speaking of petty things, some of the barbs against Disney seemed just a bit too spiteful to me, especially given Katzenburg's well known spite towards Disney.
And of course, was anyone even remotely surprized when Fiona's true form turned out to be an Ogre and not a princess? Ok, ok, maybe it wasn't really supposed to be that much of a shock (at least not to anyone over age 8), but still, did they have to beat me over the head with their "ugly doesn't mean ugly" message? And speaking of which (again), can someone please explain to me why it's not ok to make fun of someone for being ugly, but it _is_ ok to make fun of people for being short?
Ok, I'll admit it, there were some things I really liked about Shrek (i.e. any time the Donkey opened his mouth), but there were too many things that just didn't seem quite right. Next time I want to see an extremely well animated CGi film with an off-kilter story that brilliantly appeals to both young and old with a deft but subtle mix of humour, wit, and wisdom, without resorting to sarcasm and fart jokes, I'll wait for the next offering from Pixar.