Charming fun from an unexpected hero

Rating: 9/10 (5 September 2008)

Whereas Pixar always focused on good, clean family fun in its pictures, Shrek came into the spotlight because Dreamworks decided to skew the jokes a little more towards the older audience, while maintaing the basic family-friendly atmosphere. It worked, and Shrek was the film that proved it didn't take Disney/Pixar to create animated box-office gold. This first movie in the series still holds up well. Some of the pop culture jokes are instantly dated (this was done when everyone had to do a Matrix spoof), but others like the jabs at Disney are still hilarious. It helps that at its heart, Shrek still has all the usual fairy tale elements, albeit twisted. Myers, Diaz, and Murphy turn in top performances. And some of the dialogue is quite memorable ("Ogres are like onions"). The DVD has some decent extras, as well as a sampling of DVD rom games that are better than most extras of this sort. It's still not a really loaded set, but it's good for a family release and worth looking into.