What's the worst that could happen?

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2001)

There is no good reason not to see this movie. When checking out the vote history on IMDB, I was astonished to see that anyone at all had rated this movie a "1". Whether it's your type of movie or not, this movie could never be considered "awful" under any rational rubric.
This movie skillfully captures that which has been sorely lacking from the last offerings that Disney has given us: it is a movie which revels in its own cleverness, yet never at anytime ceases to poke fun at itself. The vocal acting is stupendous, regardless of whether or not you enjoy Myer's feigned scottish accent, and the character modeling is realistic and evocative. Most impressive is the way that actual features of Lithgow, Diaz, Myers, and Murphy are molded into those of their respective characters.

The writing is almost brilliant. It oscillates from low-brow to high-brow without effort, and earns hearty laughter either way. When characters in the movie do things that are annoying, something funny and violent usually happens to them to make them stop, granting all of us a great deal of gratification. If only the producers of Star Wars:Episode One had had a similar attitude towards Jar Jar...
This movie is without comparison in the field of animated films. Many Japanese animes have produced stories and action which is as evocative as Shrek's, but their ways and means are far different. Shrek is a movie that never insults your intelligence (too much), never takes itself seriously, and insists on being an enjoyable film with depth of both drama and humor. Go see it: it's something you can feel good about in the morning.