"A talking donkey? That's the easy part, getting him to shut up is what's hard." (Shrek)

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2005)

"Shrek" is a great little fun movie, with sharp,eye-popping computer animation and a knock-out Dolby Digital surround sound track. We have watched it a number of times since 2001.
It is a story of a kind-hearted Ogre (voiced by Mike Myers) who just wants to be left alone in his swamp. A very animated talking donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) just wants to be friends with Shrek. Throw in a princess (voiced by Cameron Diaz) and a would-be king (voiced by John Lithgow) and the film takes fun to a new level. In what amounts to a very scrambled collection of famous cartoon characters (Three Pigs, Big Bad Wolf, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, etc) and techniques borrowed from movies like "Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger", the animation shows slow motion, martial artist suspended in air for a moment, etc.
The script has a few slow parts, but overall is excellent, and we found ourselves either snickering or laughing out loud often. The film even has "message" with the creative ending, but 95% of it is just good, funny stuff. Many of the "jokes" will be missed by some of the younger generation, and on first viewing even many of the older crowd will miss some of the subtle references.
Disk one of this 2-disk set has the movie plus a very interesting "making-of" special. Disk 2 has more stuff that I will get around to seeing one cold, rainy winter day. In my personal rating system, an animated film can get no higher than a "9" of 10. I rate "Shrek" a solid "8", which for me puts it in the same category as "Toy Story 2", "A Bug's Life", "Chicken Run", and "Monsters, Inc." All of them are marvelous, fun movies that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.