The perfect un-fairy tale fairy tale

Rating: 9/10 (20 March 2011)

Shrek is truly a movie that stands alone. If you've never seen the film, take every fairy tale you heard growing up, throw it into a pot, add a large amount of humor, some adult innuendos, a fabulous cast of characters with the perfect voices, and you get a movie adults and children alike will love. The movie is a giant parody of many fairy tales centering on the gruff, but oh so lovable ogre Shrek (Mike Myers). In order to keep his swamp and end the harassment by the larger-than-life ego and personality of pint-sized ruler, Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), Shrek must save Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon guarded castle.
There are so many subtle themes running through the film that although laced with sometime raunchy humor can still teach impressive stories to the viewer. One of the strongest themes was that not everything is what it seems. Stereotypes are so misguided, even in the mythical, magical world of this silly un-fairy tale. Love being blind is also another theme throughout the film.
While on his quest to end the harassment from Farquaad and other humans, Shrek meets many interesting characters. Most notably, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) enters Shrek's life as an annoyance, but ends up becoming a true best friend. Together, Shrek and Donkey trek to the castle and along the way face trials and tribulations that expose how unfair and untrue many stereotypes can be. Shrek as an ogre is supposed to a horrible, killing machine, but in all reality he is just an ogre who wants to live in peace in his swamp. He doesn't like to use his ogre traits because he doesn't want to be seen as exactly what people "think" he is. Donkey has seen a life of hardship; however he keeps an upbeat and happy perspective about life. His personality perfectly opposes Shrek's and together their antics make for a hilarious adventure.
Princess Fiona again proves that not everyone or everything is as they seem and is a true testament to inner beauty being more powerful than outer beauty. After being rescued by Shrek and Donkey, the three set off back to Duloc and face interesting challenges that help each realize that there is more to each character than what they originally perceived. Through these travels Shrek and Fiona overcome the odds and find that true love doesn't always come in the form we're shown in fairy tales. Much like other animated films, such as How to Train Your Pet Dragon, the characters learn to be their true selves and follow their hearts.
The lighting and setting in the movie provide an amazing backdrop for such a hilarious, action-packed film. There is so much detail to each setting in the film from Shrek's swamp to Duloc to the castle Princess Fiona is locked away in. The film truly looks like real life turned into animation, with the same attention to detail as Disney's Finding Nemo. The lighting brings to life not only the vibrant colors, but each scene. Younger viewers get a sense of whether the story is taking a dangerous or lighthearted turn through the use of lighting and shadows. Despite being the home of an ogre, Shrek's swamp is bright and full of life, proving that the ogre living there isn't a cruel, human-killer. The colors in the film are also visually stunning. Shrek and Fiona's green have become a favorite of mine.
Shrek is a very fun, lighthearted animated movie that still serves to take on themes about being oneself in a world full of stereotypes and preconceived notions. We all learn that it's okay to let our inner ogre shine.