A true gem

Rating: 10/10 (10 May 2001)

After months of bland and downright awful movies, Hollywood finally gets one right with "Shrek", the new animated fractured fairy tale from the folks at Dreamworks Pictures and PDI, who last collaborated on the 1998 hit "Antz".

The movie is about an ogre named Shrek, a creature who greatly values his privacy. When an arrogant little prince by the name of Lord Farquaad banishes the fairy tale inhabitants of his kingdom to Shrek's private swamp, the ogre goes to protest. Farquaad promises to remove the inhabitants if Shrek rescues the lovely Princess Fiona from a dragon-guarded castle so Farquaad can marry her and become King. With a talking donkey as his sidekick, Shrek heads off on the adventure of his lifetime.

Take that fairy-tale premise, sprinkle it with great voice talent (Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow), a smart and often hilarious screenplay (co-written by two of the people who wrote 'Aladdin'), solid directing from Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and some of the best computer animation put on screen yet, and you have a comedy that will delight all ages. A must see.