Funny, Entertaining and Completely Original

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2001)

It may be too early for me to tell, but Shrek just may unseat The Little Mermaid as my all-time favourite animated films.
I benefited from knowing very little when I went to see the film. But when Shrek tears out a page from a Fairy Tale book to use as toilet paper and then goes pleasantly about his day to Smashmouths "Allstar", I knew I was in for a treat.
All four lead voices in this film are brilliant, but none more than John Lithgow as the diminutive Lord Farquaad. Farquaad is about three feet tall but does not seem to realize it, as if Lithgow was not told during the recording. But he is evil and arrogant and perfect. One of the best animation voice-overs ever.
The choice to go with Mike Myers scottish brogue is the only thing in the film I would question, but then I cannot picture the lovable Shrek any other way.
The plot is very simple. Shrek is enlisted by Lord Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona from a dangerous dragon. Pretty standard fairy tale fare. Shrek agrees to do so in exchange for getting his beloved swamp back all to himself. He is joined by Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy who provides almost all the laughs. Shrek does not know that Farquaad and Fiona both have secrets.
To tell anything more would be silly. The plot has little to do with this film. It is a visual feast with every inch of every frame jammed with colour and action. It is also packed with adult injokes and movie references. I counted more than 20 and the IMDb lists even more than that. And after a film of laughs, jokes, adventure, emotion and fun, the best scene comes at the end as the entire cast rocks out to I'm a Believer. (Maybe Disney needs to get the message that original sappy ballads that are written to win Oscars just aren't needed).
If you are one of the few people left on Earth who have not seen Shrek, do so right now! What a treat! A true gift to movie goers and proof that animation is not Disney's monopoly.
**** out of ****.