didn't like mean-spirited gags

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2001)

I saw Shrek today with my wife and two kids (6 and 8). It was fairly entertaining, but there were several mean spirited gags which we found to be really sad and distracting. One was the "princess/bird" gag, another concerned a gingerbread man. Some people rave about this kind of humor, but we were really turned off (my 8-year old used the term "mean spirited"). It is rated PG for a reason; not suitable for young kids. We have never let our kids watch TV, so they are not conditioned for a lot of the stuff that may be prevalent. Flatulence and the like is innocuous (not exactly groundbreaking) but these other gags really subtracted from the film and seemed utterly gratuitous. I'd give it 3 out of 4 stars and would recommend it to teen aged kids and adults.