Hypocritical "Shrek" is too caught up in its own arrogance to be thoroughly entertaining fare

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2001)

I've never been a fan of computer-generated films (i.e. the Toy Story series), because, to put it bluntly, it lacks any semblance of soul, as opposed to traditional hand-drawn or stop-motion animation.

Then again, I may be biased; I saw "Chicken Run," one of the best animated films ever made, 31 times in the theater and it was worth every cent.

Still, there's a difference between the painstaking, repetitive process of drawing frames or moving stop-motion puppets in such minute increments and instead just sitting and clicking a mouse, letting the computer do 99% of the work.
No matter how you look at it, though, what really matters in the end is the color green. Both movies turned huge profits for DreamWorks, grossing over $350 million combined in the U.S. and making Jeff Katzenberg look pretty darned smart for bidding adieu to Disney years ago.
But, in this reviewer's opinion, "Shrek" doesn't hold a candle to CR in terms of story and characterization. No doubt the graphics are terrific, but it doesn't make up for the surprisingly weak plot.
Visually, it's very stimulating, with an abundance of brilliant colors in every frame; nothing ever looks pasty or parched. The impromptu romance between a huge, lovesick dragon and the wiseacre Donkey, who is easily the film's greatest asset despite his lack of laughs ("Shrek! I'm lookin' down!" and "I'm makin' waffles!" are some of his best lines), makes for a humorous subplot.
However, the story of our heroes, Shrek and his sidekick donkey  simply known as, well, Donkey  attempting to rescue Princess Fiona from the dastardly Lord Farquaad in an attempt to rid Shrek's homeland of exiled fairytale characters, quickly becomes an afterthought in favor of potshots, self-indulgence and, at times, just plain mean-spiritedness.
"Shrek" rips off so many sources of modern pop culture that it would make Puff Daddy proud. For a film that is supposedly set in a Dark Ages-like era, it's an anachronistic paradise.
It's not so much the ripping off that is bad, though; it just seemed that no attempts were exerted in making any of it look somewhat original.

Mike Myers brings his Scottish accent out of mothballs (temporarily retired following the terrible "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me") for the portly, self-centered, Lou Grant-like reclusive ogre, who is now the most famous green creature to hit the big screen since Kermit the Frog and who has a weird penchant for eyeball dinners and outhouses.

That's right, the latter opens up the door for the usual bodily function jokes. And apparently the filmmakers couldn't wait to get at it; the first comes during the opening credits. (Side note: It's not smart to include the voice cast in the opening credits either  this goes for any animated picture.) Things certainly do not get off to a good start when we are also subjected to Smash Mouth's "All Star" for the zillionth time, but I digress.
John Lithgow gives a lively, spirited, and sometimes demonic performance as theer, short-tempered, tyrannical Farquaad, a creep I wouldn't want as my next-door neighbor anytime soon. You listen to that moniker enough times and it begins to sound like a certain four-letter word, considering that this movie is pretty much aimed at the kiddies. Just don't ask the young uns to try and pronounce it afterwards. His character is peppered with familiar yet effective "short" gags.
Eddie Murphy runs roughshod as the wisecracking Donkey, and perhaps like Robin Williams, you get the feeling that, sometime during production, Murphy was allowed to insert some of his own frenetic, unrestrained material into the script. Sometimes it works, particularly when he's sweet-talking the fearsome dragon, but most of the time it doesn't. (It also permitted a few inevitable "ass" jokes to worm their way into the dialogue as well.) You may be tempted to call me a sourpuss, but he scarcely got a laugh out of me during the course of the picture.
Little needs to be said about Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), whose only purpose was seemingly just to engage in a forced romance and a "Three's Company"-type misunderstanding with our hero, and for the film to include yet another damned spoof of "The Matrix," a gag that is now as old as used toilet paper. This all leads up to a predictable ending that could be seen from a country mile away.
By the way, from here on out, anyone who spoofs "The Matrix" in any way, shape or form for the sake of a cheap laugh should have their eyebrows removed with Krazy Glue.
We also must endure five minutes of tiresome WWF-style antics as Shrek takes out an army of knights in a wrestling ring, which he caps off with a Hulk Hogan-style posedown.
But that is all small potatoes compared to what is perhaps the true motive behind this film. It's a shame that Katzenberg chose to turn it into one big piece of anti-Disney propaganda, clearly visible in such scenes as Farquaad's spacious theme park, complete with singing merchandise stands and big-headed mascots, among other things. On the side, it beats the "don't judge a book by its cover" moral over our heads with the subtlety of a lead pipe. "Beauty and the Beast," anyone?
Much to no one's surprise, "Shrek" easily made a killing at the box office. Despite its success, however, this film could easily have been a whole lot more, but it's sacrificed in favor of its misguided holier-than-thou opinion of itself. If you want a genuinely enjoyable animated picture with a superior plot, I highly suggest "Chicken Run" instead.
But if Katzenberg's ludicrous goal was simply to stick it to the House of Mouse, it comes off as hypocritical, since "Shrek" goes through all the arduous trouble of borrowing extensively from the competition's product in the first place in a flimsy attempt at sculpting its own commodity. 7/10