A New Spin on the Fairy Tale.

Rating: Null/10 (23 May 2002)

Visually stunning and technically impressive, but somewhat over-rated animated flick that makes fun of itself way too often. The princess is to be rescued by an ogre and a wise-cracking donkey after being forced to by an evil king who has kicked all fairy tale creatures out of their land. But she does have a secret that few could have guessed and the film tries to warm the heart during its final act, but by that time it was nearly too late. "Shrek" is one of those odd films that uses smoke and mirrors to make it seem a lot better than it really is. It is a good film, but to me it was much weaker than recent Disney films that have used similar animation techniques ("Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", "A Bug's Life"). Its story-telling is a bit out-there and that is the main problem I had with the film. It is also more adult-oriented as many children will not understand the gags and many adults will be turned off by some of the situations and dialogue. "Shrek" is historical as it is the very first winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar, but in time "Shrek" could be more of a curiosity than a classic. 4 stars out of 5.