A funny, feel-good start to Dreamworks' best film franchise

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2014)

The first time I'd ever heard of this film was on a bus advertisement when I was 14 and I misread the title as 'Shreik' but upon close inspection, it actually said 'Shrek' and it appealed to me due to its well-known voice cast (Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy). I saw this at the cinema with my volunteer/social worker and we both enjoyed it. The part where Princess Fiona kicked Robin Hood and his Merry Men out of the way was the one that made me laugh the most during my first viewing.
The animation style is realistic for a Dreamworks film, particularly the human character designs and the backgrounds. The dialogue is funny and memorable if heartbreaking in places (particularly Fiona revealing to Donkey that she turns into an ogre at sunset) and while the film may not contain original side-characters due to them already existing in other stories, the story is original for a fairytale-themed film due to Shrek rescuing Fiona instead of a prince. While the most memorable piece of incidental music is the one being played while Fiona sings to a bird and makes it explode (it sounds like the Dreamworks logo music), the soundtrack consisting of rock and pop songs was more memorable. My favourite songs on the soundtrack were the opening song 'All Star' by Smash Mouth, Donkey's brief sing-song of Willie Nelson's 'On The Road Again,' the piña colada song played when Lord Farquaad chooses Fiona in the style of a 'Blind Date' spoof, John Cale's version of 'Hallelujah (I mistakenly thought this was Rufus Wainwright's version), Joan Jett's 'Bad Reputation,' the amusing ditty sung by the Duloc puppets, 'I'm On My Way' by the Proclaimers and Smash Mouth's version of 'I'm A Believer' at the end. Shrek is selfish yet endearing and Myers gives him a pretty decent Scottish accent, Murphy is hyper yet comical as Donkey, Diaz is recognisable and heartfelt as Fiona and Lithgow, while not the most well-known of the main cast, is menacing as Farquaad.
Overall this is a hilarious, feel-good start to my favourite Dreamworks animated film franchise and is my second favourite in the 'Shrek' quadrilogy with the second one being the best. 10/10.