A Parody of Delight

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2005)

"Shrek" is a great movie on every aspect; though animated, the characters look twice as real than any other cartoon character or CGI character for that matter. It's also a cruel movie poking fun at all of those 'soft' Walt Disney characters that people cherish in their time; now with the DreamWorks film, Shrek is a one of a kind and introducing a new hero and supporting characters.
The synopsis of "Shrek" involves a seven foot green ogre who calls himself Shrek terrifies the people in the village. The beast has signs telling people to stay out of his swamp in which villagers want him dead, but yet, he's so harmless that in the prologue of the film, he reads "Sleeping Beauty" in the restroom, takes a bath in the swamp, brushes his teeth with goo and lives in an abandon rock house. In the film, he tells a creature that he is rejected by society.
To those who recognize Shrek's voice, that is Mike Myers of "Saturday Night Live" fame and from the "Wayne's World" series. Though the original actor was intended for the late Chris Farley, Mike brings a presence to the jolly green giant in which not only do we laugh with the character, but we feel for him as well.
Lord Farquea, (voice by John Lithgow) who resembles Disney CEO John Eisner, wants to get rid of every single fairy tale creature living in DuLac and the only way he does is by cutting off the legs of the Gingerbread Man and torturing him by drowning him in a vase of milk. As part of his quest, he wants to marry a princess in order to become king and during a parody of "Love Connection," the magic mirror points out Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) out of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
Now all of the fairy tale creatures are captured by Lord Farquea's men and are paying those who have those creatures; we see the three bears, the three little pigs, the seven dwarfs, and Pinocchio in cages. There is one creature who manages to escape and that is Donkey (Eddie Murphy), a talkative donkey that never really shuts up, but in the end is always right. He is saved by Shrek after being chased by the guards and decides to stick with him, though Shrek didn't say anything, now Donkey wants to live with Shrek though the green creature wants peace and quiet.
To skip the rest of the story, Shrek and Donkey decide to go after Farquea and go rescue Princess Fiona in order for Shrek to keep his land. Along the way, we get to see the comedy and relationship between Donkey and Shrek, like Abbott and Castello where no matter what situation comes between them they are a duo.
"Shrek" is a funny movie that I will leave the rest of the film for viewers to see; it almost reminds me of "Young Frankenstein" in which the parody and jokes were subtle, though it has the cruelness of "Blazing Saddles" (relax, they're no slurs) I still enjoy "Shrek".