The Fact That It's Been Copied Ad Nauseum Doesn't Diminish Its Freshness

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2010)

The fact that pretty much every animated film released now has a slangy and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor threatens to diminish somewhat the luster of "Shrek," but people should remember how fresh and inventive this film seemed at the time of its release. It offered a new kind of animated film for adults that even Pixar hadn't yet mastered (though Pixar's level of sophistication would soon skyrocket and leave the "Shrek" films in the dust).
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and especially John Lithgow do terrific voice work, and the animation itself is stellar. "Shrek" won the first ever Academy Award given specifically for an animated feature, besting Pixar's "Monsters Inc."
Grade: A